Visitors
by Julian Amici
Summary: Josh was rescued from Blackwood Pines before anything seriously bad could happen to him, but the state still frowns on threatening all your friends with sawblades, guns, and knockout gas. His mental condition places him in a mental institution, where he doesn't get any visitors, until one day, one shows up. Rated T for sexual discussions, mature subject matter, and foul language.
1. Chris

"You've got a visitor."

Josh looked up at the guard in the white jacket, surprised. He hadn't had any visitors since he was put into the Smithson Institute, a high security mental institution. He had received phone calls from his parents, but never had anyone come to see him before. He stood up and walked toward the guard, his arms in front of him, wrists together. As the guard put the handcuffs on him, the possibilities ran through his mind. Could his parents be there? Was it anyone from the lodge, anyone who suffered from his prank? Could it be Sam? His heart ached to think of his friend, and the woman he had fallen for over that year after his sisters went missing. Did she forgive him? Could she be there to see him? He followed the guard down the hall to the meeting room, a room separated by bullet-proof glass and a pair of gray phones so each person could talk to each other. As he sat down, he saw the person who had come to see him, and his heart sank a little. He was happy someone had come to see him, but he had hoped it was Sam.

Chapter 1: Chris

"Hey, man."

"Hey." Josh spoke back into the phone receiver, trying to sound as normal as possible. "What're you doing here?"

"You know, just wanted to see how you're doing."

"Gotcha."

The silence weighed heavily on them for a moment, until Chris broke it again. "So, how *are* you doing in here?"

Josh's head bobbed up and down in a nod. "I'm good. They got me on a new kind of medicine. Brexipatrol, or something. It's helping."

"It is?"

"Yeah. Haven't been seeing things, been thinking more clearly."

"So, you ready to get out?" There was a hint of concern in Chris's voice, almost like he was testing Josh.

"No, I need to be in here. After what I… after what happened. I need to get healthy. I'm not there yet."

Chris nodded. "Do you remember much of anything from… the incident?"

Josh slowly shook his head, hanging it in shame. "I… yeah. I remember all of it."

"Crazy." The way he said it, Josh know he meant the situation. He still inwardly flinched a little. "So you know that Emily and Matt are…"

Josh waited for a moment after Chris had trailed off. "… no. Emily and Matt are what?"

"They broke up. Had this *super* huge fight once classes started out in the quad. They can't even be in the same room together anymore."

"No. God, really? Is it… is it my fault?"

"What? No." Chris waived his hand dismissively. "Everyone knew they weren't going to last. If it wasn't that, it was gonna be something else."

Josh's head fell again, and he slowly shook his head.

"It shouldn't have been me, though. I shouldn't have put them in that…"

"Stop." Chris cut him off. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known they were gonna climb up the freakin' fire tower." He shook his head. "Mike and Jess are still together. What happened made them a whole lot closer, I think."

"Really?" He looked up to face Chris.

"Yeah. They seem to talk about more than just sex now."

Josh couldn't contain a chuckle. "Well, that's good." Silence encompassed the two for a minute before he broke it again, hesitation in his voice. "So, uh, you and Ash?"

A small smile broke on Chris's face. "Yeah. Me and Ash."

"How'd it happen?"

"Well, she kissed me that night, right before I…" Chris paused, not sure if he wanted to bring up anything specific about that night. "Well, about a month after, she came to see me. I think I was the first person she saw."

"She was gone for a month?"

"We needed time to process what happened. But she did, and she came to see me first."

"And then you guys got together? A little making out?"

Chris let out a small chuckle. "Well, that's what it started as. She said she didn't want to waste time anymore, so we…" His smile widened.

"Yes!" Josh's hand flew up in a fist, his smile wider than it had been for longer than he can remember. "Yes! I'm proud of you, Cochise! I knew you had it in ya!"

Chris waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. I wasn't in it for that. I… I love her, ya know."

Josh nodded. "Yeah. You've had it bad for her for a while. I'm really happy for you, man. I'm glad that… that something good came out of that night."

Without warning, the red light came on in the back of the room. Josh knew what that meant. "Damn."

"What?"

"The red light means we have, like, one minute left."

"Oh. That sucks."

Josh fidgeted for a moment. "So, hey. Thanks. Thanks for… coming by. I haven't seen anyone for a while. I appreciate it."

"Don't worry about it. You'll see me again soon."

"Awesome. And, if you could," he hesitated for a moments one last time. "could you let everyone else know that I'm doing better, and that I'm sorry?"

"Of course. I'll see you in a few."

"See ya." Just before Chris hung up the grey phone receiver, Josh yelled out. "And rock Ashley's world for me, bro!"

The two let out a small laugh as Chris shook his head and hung up the phone. He placed two fingers to his head in a mock salute, and with a smile, turned to leave, looking back one more time to see Josh in his prison orange uniform being escorted away by two prison guards.


	2. Chris 2

Chapter 2: Chris

"Ash is a cheap bitch."

"You're the one who taught her how to play Smash Brothers, man." Josh laughed as his best friend complained about his girlfriend.

"You don't understand, she keeps playing Donkey Kong, grabbing me, and just running off the edge!" Chris yelled it out, but the smile on his face told Josh he was just joking.

"Could be worse, she could be playing Meta Knight."

"Don't even joke about that!"

"Maybe I'll suggest it to her. I need to keep your skills sharp if you're gonna compete with me when I'm well."

"Don't you dare." Chris tried to put a serious face on, but it cracked immediately and the two started laughing.

"Well, you could always try upping the ante, get her distracted…"

"How?"

"Three words. Strip Smash Brothers."

Chris's eyebrow raised. "What? How would that even work?"

"Okay, so it's like this. You start with five lives, and five pieces of clothes. Every life lost, a piece of clothing comes off."

"You've had that in your head for a while, haven't you?"

"Did it with Jodie. Got me laid more than once."

"Shit, man." Chris began to chuckle again. "I'll see if she wants to. At least it'll keep it interesting."

"Yeah. First pick Meta Knight when you do."

"Oh, man. Dick move…"

"Don't lie. You're totally going to."

"Never said I wasn't." The two laughed together as though there wasn't a pane of wired glass between the two. It almost felt like they were just hanging out in some park, or restaurant, or after school, not in a mental institution.

After the laughter died down, the reality of the situation hit them both. "So, how long do we gotta stay behind this fuckin' glass?" Chris was visibly annoyed by the barrier between them.

Josh simply shrugged. "As long as the head doc says it needs to be there, I guess. I hope it's not much longer, though. I've stopped hallucinating completely, and I haven't had an episode in two weeks."

"An episode?"

"Yeah. They happen sometimes. I don't know what it is, but it's just like, nothing is quite the same. I see… well, you know. When it's dark, and quiet, and something scrapes against some metal, it sounds like *them*. It used to freak me out, and I'd kinda panic."

"Shit, man. That happens to Ash too. It was fuckin' terrifying down there. I heard that Jess had the worst of it. Ended up in a mental institution for about a month after it happened."

"What?" A look of surprise overcame Josh's features. "I thought she and Mike…"

"Yeah. He visited her every day while she was in there. I thought it was just a physical thing when they first got together, but the two really do seem to fit together."

"Is she out now?"

Chris nodded slightly. "Yeah. She's in a lot better shape. Still has some scars on her face, but they've mostly faded. Still, she's super self-conscious about them."

"Other than that, she's okay though?" Josh started to look really worried.

"Oh, yeah. She totally humiliated Emily the other day, so she's nearly back to her old self."

"Damn. I remember when those two were best friends."

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you start dating your best friend's ex right after they break up."

"I'm glad we never did anything like that."

"Yeah. Well, it's not like I had women climbing over themselves to date me." Chris smiled. "I guess that doesn't matter now anyway. I got the one I want."

"That's what counts, man."

Without warning, the red light came on. Chris sighed. "Man, they never give us enough time."

"I know, right? We'll have to see if we can get into the common room or something."

"If they do, I'll bring my Wii and we'll Smash it up!"

"Hell yeah!" The two laughed together, Josh's throaty chuckle and Chris's silent giggle.

"Well, let me know. If you get your cell phone back, send me a text or two, will ya?"

"Will do. See you later, man."

"See ya next week!" The two looked at each other for a moment before Chris put the receiver back into its cradle and stood up. Josh followed suit and gave Chris a single wave before being escorted by the same two guards that seemed to always be stationed in the visitors' area.


	3. Chris 3

Chapter 3: Chris

Josh's brow furrowed, his eyes showing concern. "Dude, you've barely said anything since you got here. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah."

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

Chris let out his breath loudly, a mixture of depression and annoyance on his face. "It's nothing. Ash and I… we… we had a fight."

"What?" Josh leaned forward, getting as close to his friend as he could. "What happened?"

"We just got into this big argument, and…" his voice trailed off.

"What?!" Josh found himself standing up, his hand pressed against the glass.

"That was a week ago. She hasn't been returning my calls. I think…" A tear ran down Chris's cheek. "I think we might be broken up."

"Wha… no. No! You can't be broken up! Not after everything…" His knees failed him and he found himself falling back into the orange plastic chair he had been sitting in. "Why? Why were you two fighting?"

"Josh, it's not…"

"Just tell me!" Josh interrupted, the desperation in his voice causing it to crack a little.

"She's just…" Chis hesitated. "It's not important."

"Not important? If she's not talking to you… Man, just tell me! There's gotta be something I can do! Maybe I could call her, talk to her…"

"It's because I'm visiting you, okay?" Silence fell over the two, Chris immediately regretting telling his best friend. They just stared at each other through wired glass, holding up phone receivers to their ears, the only sound either of the two hearing being breathing. After a moment, Chris continued. "Ashley's… well, she's still really pissed at you. I told her that you were on the wrong medications, that you were sick, but…"

"Stop." Josh stared into Chris's eyes, his brow pushed together. "Dude, Chris, you gotta stop coming to see me."

"What? No! Josh, you're my best friend! We're partners! We've been through…"

"You've been chasing after Ashley for years now, and I'm not gonna get in the way of that. If she doesn't want you to see me, then stop coming to see me. Be happy with her. Please."

Chris stared at his longest friend through the glass. "Dude. Don't ask me to…"

"I'm not asking. Stop coming to see me."

Chris was at a loss for words. He lifted his arm to wipe the tears that were freely falling from his eyes away. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, clearly not knowing what to say.

"Dude, Cochise. I'll be fine. I'm doing a whole lot better in here. Don't worry about me. I'm good. I promise."

After a moment, Chris finally spoke. "Okay, but only until I can get Ash to forgive you, then I'm coming right back over."

Josh chucked, a bit of sadness still breaking through it. "Chris, you're the best friend I've ever had. A few months to make sure you're happy is the least I can do. Seriously. Go."

"We still have a few minutes. Let's at least make them count."

"Okay, you got anything in mind?"

Chris let out a breath, the tears slowing. "You haven't asked about Sam." He noticed the pause on Josh's face. "Come on, man, I know how you feel about her. You haven't asked about her once."

"Yeah, well, you know how I feel about her, and you haven't brought her up. So it can't be good." The two fell to silence again. Josh looked up to the clock, and noted that they had less than a minute. "So, how *is* Sam doing?"

"She's okay. She's been hanging out with Ash a lot."

"Does she… ask about me?"

Chris shook his head. "Look, I gotta be straight with you. Sam's still pissed at you too."

Josh solemnly nodded. "Yeah. I thought so."

"Josh, you know Sam. She'll forgive you. Just give her time. I've been telling them both how much better you're doing."

The red light came on above the clock. Josh looked to it, and then back to his friend. "Well, if you can, tell them how sorry I am, and that I only want them to be happy."

"I will. I promise."

A tear fell out of Josh's eye as well, to match the tears already on Chris's face. "I'm gonna miss you, Chris."

"I'll be back." Chris sobbed out. "I don't know when, but I promise, I'll be back for you! You hear me?"

"Just go! Go, make up with Ashley! Go be happy with her! You deserve that!"

"Josh…" Chris couldn't say any more as Josh hung up the receiver. As the guards approached behind Josh, he stood up, balled his hand into a fist, and held it against the glass. Chris hesitated for a second, but then quickly stood up and returned his friends salute by placing his own fist opposite Josh's on the glass.

Without another word between then, Josh turned around and let the two guards on either side of him escort him out of the visitors' area. Chris didn't move until well after he had disappeared through the door leading out.


	4. Mike

Chapter 4: Mike

"Hey, Josh."

That Mike was on the other side of the glass was a surprise to Josh. It was so much of a surprise that he didn't know what to say. He had hoped that it was Chris, here to tell him that he and Ash were back together, or Sam, here to say she forgave him for the horrible things he did. But it was Mike. It took a moment for him to get his wits about him before he could respond. "Uh, hey. What're you doing here, Mike?"

"I came to see how you were doing. Chris tells me you're feeling a lot better."

"Uh, yeah. They got me on the right medication now. It's really helping."

"That's good. You were… you were kinda out of your mind up there."

"Yeah." Josh hesitated for a moment. Mike was a good friend, and the two had done a lot with their prank videos and skits they posted on YouTube, but they had only known each other for a couple years. He didn't know Mike for nearly as long as he knew Chris or Sam. "So, how have you been? I haven't seen you since…"

"Yeah. I've been good. Been spending a lot of time trying to process what happened." Mike subconsciously moved his right hand over to his left, and that what when Josh noticed.

"Jesus, Mike, what happened to your fingers?" He hadn't noticed that two of his fingers were missing.

"Yeah, that happened that night."

"Holy shit, man. Did… did I…?"

"No, man. This was the old man that lived up there." Mike shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "He was setting traps for those things that lived up there, and like a dumbass I fell right into one."

"Man. Does it still hurt?"

"No, not so much anymore. Still feels like they're there sometimes, but you get used to it." With that, he moved the phone receiver into his right hand, and balled his hand into a fist a couple of times. "You don't really notice how much you use these fingers for until they're gone."

"Mike, dude, I'm so sorry…"

"Josh, it's cool. Like you said, you were on the wrong medicine."

"But still, I shouldn't have…"

"Stop it, Josh. It wasn't all you. We all could have said no. None of us had to go back up to that mountain. And you were sick." Mike shook his head dismissively. "Nothing we can do about it now anyway."

"I know." Josh's eyes fell. "Not a day goes by that I don't wish I could take it all back, you know."

"Yeah. I get that."

Silence fell between the two for another moment. "So, I hear that you and Jessica are still together, and getting' pretty serious?" A smile played on Josh's face, hoping that the change in subject would be welcome.

"Yeah. Jess is way more amazing than people give her credit for." Mike's face lit up, apparently glad for the change in topic as well. "She recovered from… well, she recovered really fast, especially considering the hell she went through. It seemed to have helped her confidence, actually. Even with the scars, she's even hotter now than she was before. We've been talking about college choices, and it looks like we'll be going to the same one."

"Nice! What college are you guys going to?"

"We have it narrowed down, but it'll probably be Yale."

"Right, your dad's an alum, right?"

"Yeah, he'll get us both in."

"Awesome. I'm happy for you, man." Josh ran a hand through his hair, pausing for a moment to think of something else to ask. His eyes raised to meet Mikes as the other thing he had been thinking about came back up in his mind. "Oh, and how's the Youtube channel doing? Have we lost too many subscribers?"

"Nah, I'm keeping it going with updates. Just something to keep people invested until you get out."

"Hopefully that works for a while."

"Well, how long are you gonna be in here?"

Josh shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know. Until the doctors feel like I'm good to leave, I guess."

"Well, no matter how long, I'm sure we'll get back on our feet once you do get out. I mean, we hit a million subscribers once, we can do it again." The confidence in Mike's voice made Josh actually believe it. That was one of the things that Josh really liked about Mike, he always made everything seem so possible.

"Yeah. I've already been coming up with some new video ideas. Like, you know that let's plays and stuff like that are getting really popular, right?"

"Yeah? What'cha thinking about?"

"Well, maybe we could shift to a little more video game-related content..."

"Hey hey hey…" Mike interrupted. "Hold on, there. Our prank videos are really popular. We shouldn't just abandon them."

Josh nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. It's just, well, I don't know if I *should* be pranking…"

"Dude, Josh. You made a mistake, and like you said, wrong medication. I mean, take it slow, but seriously. You made so many friends with your videos. Hell, WE became friends because I was in your first prank video!"

"Yeah, that's true…"

"Chris woulnd't have met Ashley if you hadn't pranked her, none of us would've even known Matt existed if you hadn't pulled that amazing shower prank on the football team…"

Josh let out a small laugh. "Okay, okay, I get it."

Mike smiled back at his friend. "We'll get back into the swing of things. I mean, take your time, but you love making these videos. WE love making these videos. You, me, Chris, Ashley…" Mike hesitated for a moment. "… Sam…"

"Have you talked to any of them recently?"

"Not so recently. Last I heard, Chris was still trying to get Ash to talk to him, I guess they had this huge fight. But that was a couple weeks ago." Mike shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Sam… she's…"

"Still really pissed?"

"You heard?"

"Yeah. Chris told me." Josh shook his head dismissively. "I can't blame her."

"She'll get over it. You know Sam, she can't hold a grudge."

"Dude, I chased her around the lodge while she wasn't wearing anything but a towel. And I gassed her. She has a right to be pissed."

"Never said she didn't. But she'll forgive you. She knows you were on the wrong medication."

The red light turned on, reflecting lightly off the glass between the two.

"Thanks, man." Josh exhaled heavily. "If you get a chance, just let them know how sorry I am for what happened."

"Sure thing." Mike looked up at the light. "So, what does that mean?"

"It means we have about a minute left."

"What?" Mike looked at his watch. "Jesus, they don't give you a lot of time, do they?"

"They want to limit how much communication I have with visitors. I guess some patients have been set off by guests before, so they limit the time for security, or something."

"That sucks." Mike inwardly flinched as he saw two guards approach Josh from behind. "Well, hey, I'll see you again real soon, okay?"

"Yeah, and let me know how everyone else is doing too when you do!"

"Will do." Mike simply looked on as Josh hung up the receiver and get escorted out by two large guards.


	5. Ashley

Chapter 5: Ashley

Josh sat down and picked up the phone receiver slowly. Ashley, wearing her ever-present beanie, stared at him through the glass. He was suddenly very conscious of the prison orange that covered his whole body. He put the receiver up to his ear. Ashley slowly mimicked the action. "Uh, hey Ash."

"Hi Josh."

The two simply stared at each other in silence, Josh fidgeting uncomfortably. He had no idea how to break the silence. He looked into Ashley's eyes, then looked away, then back again.

Ashley finally broke the silence herself. "So, Chris says you're doing better." It wasn't a question, just a statement.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm on the right medications, I'm not seeing things anymore, haven't freaked out in a couple months now…"

"You terrorized us on that mountain."

Josh stopped in his tracks. He simply froze. Ashley's eyes showed hurt and anger, her brow furrowed as she stared holes into his face. He dropped his eyes. "Ashley, I'm so, SO sorry. I'm sorry for what I did, for everything that happened up there…"

"Josh, you attacked us. You set up all these elaborate traps…"

"I know. I know, and I'm so sorry…"

"Shut up!" Ashley screamed into the phone. "I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen." Josh simply nodded. "Josh, we were all there for you, we all came up to that mountain for you, because you said you wanted us there, because you said you were healing and that it would bring you closure." She took a deep breath. "You made me think you had died, Josh. You made me think Chris had died. I still have nightmares about it. I still wake up in a cold sweat. You made me, Chris, Sam, you made all of us think we were going to die." Tears flowed freely from Ashley's eyes now, and words failed her as she quietly sobbed into the phone.

Josh waited for a moment until he was somewhat sure that Ashley wasn't going to keep talking. "Ash…" he choked out. When he didn't get a response, he continued. "Ash, I can't tell you how sorry I am, how much I wish I could take it all back, make it all like it was. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I made you think I'd been killed. I'm sorry I made Chris shoot himself in front of you. I'm so sorry I hit you…"

"Well…" Ash interrupted, her sobs quieted down. "I can understand why you hit me. I did kind of stab you with a pair of scissors."

"You thought I was some psycho, I had that coming. Hell, I WAS a psycho."

Ash found herself giggle despite herself. "Still…"

"Ash, I'm serious, I'd do anything to make it better, to take it all back. I wish so hard that I could." His voice lowered with his eyes. "But I can't. It happened, and I screwed up the best friends I ever had. I'm gonna have to live with that."

"You told Chris to stop coming to see you." Ashley interrupted quietly. Josh froze. "Why?"

He hesitated for a moment. "He… he said that you were angry he was coming to see me. I wanted you two to be happy. After… after what I did, I don't deserve his friendship. You do. I just want you guys to be happy."

Ashley froze for a moment. "You did that… for us?"

Josh looked back up to Ashley. "Of course. Chris is my best friend, and he's liked you for years. I couldn't let him throw that away for me."

Ashley looked taken aback. "Years? He's liked me for years?"

"Since almost the first time he saw you."

The tears stopped, and a blush formed on her cheeks. "I… I didn't know. I didn't know he liked me for so long."

"Yeah, he was just so terrified that you'd shoot him down."

"Yeah, that's why I never told him how I felt too."

"All of us were pulling for you two. We all wanted you two to get together for a long time." Josh smiled softly at the girl on the other side of the glass. "Seriously. I mean, that's kinda why I set things up the way I did. I know it wasn't the best way to… well, it was actually the worst way to try to set you guys up together…"

"It worked, didn't it?"

Again, Josh froze. He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard just a hint of forgiveness in her voice. "Ash…"

"Josh, I'm still really angry. But Chris, he said that he wasn't gonna leave you, that you were his best friend. He said you're doing a whole lot better, and that I should come and see you."

"Damnit, Chris, that's not what I…"

"Josh, tell me that it was all the medication. Tell me that everything you did was because of the medication you were on."

"Ash…" He wanted to. He wanted to blame it all on some outside force, on the doctors that had him on anti-depressants when he should have been on anti-psychotics, the doctors that told him to avoid his problems rather than confronting them, but he couldn't. "I wish that were true. But I'm the one who made those choices. I'm the one who didn't seek out help when I started planning it all out. It's my fault. Sure, the medication didn't help, but I can't just not take responsibility. If I don't, then I'm just letting it happen again if I do get on the wrong meds again."

"No, Josh, you're you again. I can tell! You're different! You're like you were before…" Ashley let the tears fall from her eyes one more time. "Before we pulled that stupid prank and got your sisters killed. Josh, God, I'm so, so sorry for getting your sisters killed. I'm sorry we played that stupid, stupid prank! I'm sorry for everything! God, we deserved everything you did to us. We deserved it. We deserved it all!"

"Ash!" Josh finally realized why Ashley was so angry with him. She was angry with herself for what happened to Hannah and Beth, and she was looking for anything to put it behind her. He didn't even realize that she might be dealing with the same guilt and anger he was dealing with. "You made a stupid mistake, and something bad happened to my sisters. You didn't do it on purpose!"

"We made Hannah feel so stupid, I made Hannah feel so stupid for crushing on Mike, and there I was, crushing on Chris the exact same way…"

"Ash, it's not your fault. You didn't…"

"It is my fault, Josh! I could have stopped it. I could have stayed with Chris, passed out on the counter with you, I could have gone with Sam to look for Hannah, but I just wanted to be included in the prank so bad, to be part of it, not falling for it…"

Josh steeled himself, and decided to say the words that he so desperately wanted to hear himself. "I forgive you, Ashley." He saw her look up at him, her eyes red and puffy, strands of her long red hair stuck to her face. "You didn't mean for anything to happen to Hannah, and there's no way you could have known. I forgive you." He took a deep breath. "I just hope, someday, you can forgive me too."

"Josh." Ashley couldn't find the words. Tears continued down her cheeks, no matter how many time she wiped them away with her sleeve, and the red light came on. She looked up at it, seeming to know what it meant. "I'm glad you're better. And I think I can start. I think I can start forgiving you."

"Ash…" Josh started.

Ashley put her hand up to the glass. "I'll really try. I know Chris'll help me through it." She watched the guards approach Josh from behind. "And Sam will too. I know it." The two looked at each other, an understanding formed between them, as she lowered the receiver back down on the cradle. She gave Josh a small, tear-stained smile right before the guards turned him around and took him out of the room.


	6. Chris and Ashley

Chapter 6: Chris and Ashley

"Dude! You're back!" Josh's face broke into a huge grin as soon as he sat down and picked up the receiver.

"I told ya I would be!" The grin on Chris's face mirrored his best friend's. "I'm sorry it took a whole month, man."

"Dude, I wasn't expecting to see you for a year, at least!" Josh found himself bouncing up and down in his chair with excitement. "So, does that mean you and Ashley made up?"

"Well, why don't you ask her?" Chris then looked off to his side, and Josh noticed Ashley walk into view, a sheepish smile on her face. She gave him a small wave.

"Yes!" Josh's fist pumped into the air. "Yes! That is AWESOME!"

"Yeah, and she wants to talk to you too." Before Josh could respond, Chris started to hand the phone over to Ashley, who walked up right beside him and took the receiver.

"Hey Ash." Josh's smile faded a bit, hoping that Ash was happy to be here, and not just here for Chris's sake.

"Hey Josh. Hey, I'm sorry I exploded at you the last time I was here."

"Dude, Ash, it's cool. I definitely deserved it."

"Yeah, well, I deserved for you to explode on me too, and you never did." Ash lightly shook her head. "But, me and Chris, we had a good long talk about it. He forgave you a long time ago, and I guess I didn't forgive you because I couldn't forgive myself for what happened last year. But with everything that happened, if you're willing to forgive me for it, then I can forgive myself too." She took a deep breath. "And, you know, since I can forgive myself, I can forgive you too. Sorry for taking so long."

Josh scoffed. "Pff, what? No, you took the time you needed. I definitely didn't expect it to happen this quickly. Don't even apologize for how long it took."

"Well, I did have an amazing boyfriend help me through it." Both Chris and Ashley blushed as she spoke. "He was pretty patient with me through it. I was kind of a pain in the ass for a while there."

"Oh, don't you worry. It won't take long for Chris to be the pain in the ass…" The two started giggling.

"What? What'd he say?" Chris looked up to Ashley, his head cocked to the side.

She looked down at him. "He said 'keep up the good work, team.'"

Josh burst into laughter. Chris smiled and shook his head. "Okay, be that way."

Ashley's laughter died down a bit, and she looked back to Josh through the glass. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that, and that we're gonna throw the biggest party for you when you get out." She put her hand up to the glass. "So hurry up and get better!"

Josh smiled and threw out an over-emphasized salute, and spoke in his best John Wayne impression. "Yes, ma'am! It'll be an honor!"

Ashley rolled her eyes, still smiling, and handed the phone back to Chris, taking a step back to stand just beside him.

Chris took the receiver and locked eyes with his friend. "So, no, seriously, what did you say to her?"

"You heard her, Cochise. You doubting your girlfriend?"

"You're an ass."

The two laughed together for a moment before Josh interrupted. "Oh, hey, Mike came and saw me."

"Really?" Chris looked surprised. "I mean, he posted a quick video on the YouTube channel, but I didn't know he came up here…"

"Yeah, surprised the hell out of me too. So, you haven't seen him recently?"

"No, he's been super busy with college applications and Jess and everything, but we still talk on Facebook. He didn't say anything about coming up here, though."

"You see anyone else?"

Chris shrugged. "Hung out with Matt the other day, he's doing pretty good. Looks like he's gonna get that football scholarship."

"Nice."

"Ashley hung with Jessica a few days ago too, apparently she might be going to Yale with Mike. Fashion design major."

"Fashion design?" Josh feigned surprise. "I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked."

"I know, right?" Chris shifted in his seat.

"So, what about Emily? Anyone seen her recently?"

Chris shook his head. "No, no one's seen Emily for a couple months. I mean, she's been at school, but she doesn't really hang out with anyone anymore."

"Oh." Josh's eyes shifted away from his friend. He wasn't sure if he was the cause of that or not. "Well, if you find out anything, let me know."

"We will."

"And…" Josh hesitated. "How's Sam doing?"

"She's doing okay. She's already started taking some college courses."

"She going for that Veterinary Medicine degree?"

"So far, yeah. She started applying for grants and scholarships and it looks like she might be getting a few. She always had the highest grades of all of us." With that, Ashley playfully hit Chris on the arm, a look of feigned hurt on her face. She said something, but Josh couldn't make it out. Chris let out a small laugh and raised his other hand defensively. "Yeah, okay. The SECOND highest grades of all of us."

The red light came on, grabbing the attention of all three of them. "Damn. Well, what about you guys? You going to college?"

Chris nodded, his smile widening. "Yeah, man. I got accepted into UBC's pre-med program. Ash's going there too."

"You're both pre-med?"

"Nah, she's going for an Anthropology degree."

The guards approached Josh from behind. Josh noticed, and cursed under his breath. "Man, we NEVER have enough time. Come back soon, I wanna hear everything!"

"Will do man…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ashley grabbed the phone from him. "We'll see you really soon. And I know we said that we were together, but just so you really, REALLY know…"

Ashley put the phone back into the cradle as the guards stood Josh up, gently took Chris's chin into her hand, faced him to her, and pushed her lips onto his. Josh couldn't contain himself, and he threw his hands straight up in victory. "YES! YES! ALL RIGHT! YES!"

As Ashley parted her lips from Chris's, she looked at Josh, a blush on her cheeks, and smiled and waved at him. Chris simply let out a laugh, a similar blush on his face. Josh continued to pump his fist in the air at the two until he was through the door, Chris and Ash watching him until he disappeared.


	7. Jessica

Chapter 7: Jessica

To say that Josh was surprised was an understatement. He was a little surprised that Jessica was the one on the other side of the glass, but so much more so because of how different she looked. She looked like she had done nothing to her hair, simply letting it fall past her shoulders, and it looked like it hadn't been colored in a while, her dark brown roots showing prominently. It was also the first time Josh had ever seen her in anything other than a low-cut shirt. He wasn't used to seeing her in a large sweatshirt, especially in that shade of unflattering gray. He also wasn't sure, but he didn't think she was wearing any makeup at all. She held the phone receiver up to her ear, but made no motions to speak, so Josh took it on himself. "Uh, hey Jess. What's up?" He mentally slapped himself. 'What's up?' he thought to himself. 'Seriously, Josh? Like we're just out for coffee or something?'

"Not a whole lot." Jessica responded with a shrug, like they *were* just out for coffee. "Busy with college prep. Just finished with finals." She checked the nails on her other hand. "You doin' okay?"

"Yeah. I'm kinda surprised, though. Didn't expect to see you."

"Why not?"

Josh stumbled for a moment. How could he answer that? Because he thought she hated him? Because he thought she was shallow and didn't care about him? Because she blamed him for what happened in the mines? "I dunno. Just didn't. I mean, I was surprised when Chris and Mike came to see me too…"

"That's fair." She absently twirled her hair around her finger. "Still, I'd think you'd be afraid of what we all'd say to you."

Josh's head bobbed up and down slowly. "Yeah, I can't say that's not true."

"Well, you did fuck up pretty bad."

"Listen, Jess, I'm really, really sorry for everything that happened up there…"

"You don't need to apologize." she interrupted. Josh gave her a blank stare for a moment, not sure how to respond to that. "Seriously. Nothing you did affected me at all. If anything, I'm the one that needs to apologize to you."

"What?" Josh found himself completely confused now. "What're you talking about? With everything I did…"

"You wouldn't have done anything if I hadn't pulled that stupid ass prank last year." For the first time, Jessica looked uncomfortable to be there. Suddenly, her lack of makeup and frumpy clothing looked like it fit her. "You didn't start having problems until after Beth and Hannah disappeared. So it's my fault. I planned the prank, I got everyone else involved in it. Hell, I convinced Matt and Mike to come up to the lodge for that weekend too. They were gonna say no."

"What, really?" Josh seemed taken aback. He had thought everyone wanted to go back. "I didn't know anyone had to be convinced."

Jessica looked back into Josh's eyes, an incredulous look on her face. "Really? You though everyone was super comfortable going back up to that damned mountain on the anniversary of us all basically murdering your sisters?"

Now it was Josh's turn to feel uncomfortable. "Well, no, but I thought everyone wanted to come back up for… me…"

She simply shook her head. "Josh…"

"I know, I know, it was stupid."

"Anyway, that's kind of the reason I'm here. I just feel like I need to square with you. I'm the reason you're in here in the first place."

"Jess, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known what was gonna happen. You made a mistake."

"Mistakes are as serious as the consequences they cause."

Josh let out a chuckle. "Stop quoting 'House'. Mistakes are exactly that. You were playing a joke, and you thought you were helping your friend."

"You thought you were driving Chris and Ashley together and showing everyone how your sisters felt. You didn't know what was up on that mountain. You're not the one that gave me these scars." Her hands moved up to the collar of her sweatshirt and pulled down, revealing a set of much uglier scars on her upper chest, where it looked like skin and been torn off.

Josh looked at the scars in horror. The ones on her face were barely noticeable, but these were huge and discolored, like someone had gouged out part of her chest and haphazardly placed a bit of plaster over the wound. "Jesus, Jess. Does it hurt?"

"No, it's completely healed." Jessica let go of the gray sweatshirt and let it bounce back up, covering her scars once more. "Kinda what I deserve, anyway."

"Jessica Rogers, you listen to me." Jessica looked up into Josh's eyes, surprise showing in hers. "You don't deserve to have those scars. You deserve for people to see you for the confident, beautiful girl you are. You deserve to be able to move on with your life. If you want my forgiveness for anything you did, you have it." Josh settled down back into his chair. He hadn't even realized he had stood up, or that the guards had approached him from behind, ready to subdue him. "Seriously, Jess, I just want you to be happy."

Slowly, a small smile appeared on her face. "Josh, you really were the best of all of us."

"No, I'm not. I'm in here, remember?" Josh smiled a bit himself as he heard Jessica giggle. "Besides, you're not the only one who blames herself for what happened."

"Blamed, but Ash blamed herself because she didn't do anything when she should have. I blamed myself because I did something I shouldn't have." She shook her head. "And the worst part? I did it because Hannah was crushing on Mike, when I was doing the exact same thing." She looked back up at her friend through the glass. "I don't think I deserve your forgiveness. I don't think I even deserve God's forgiveness."

Josh's eyebrow raised. "I wonder what your dad would say about that?"

"He'd probably have some choice words for me. Not easy being a preacher's daughter."

"Well, not that I'm an expert, but he'd probably say that whether you deserve it or not, you have it." Josh shrugged. "I dunno. I want you to be happy. And I want you to forgive yourself, just like Ashley did."

"Oh, I have. Don't worry about that. I just wanted to see if you could forgive me. I still feel guilty, but I've resolved to be better. And that's all anyone really can do, right?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah. That's what I'm trying to do. That's why I'm not blaming you, or the medication, or Dr. Hill, or Mike or anyone else for what happened. They were my actions." He slowly closed his eyes. "But with you here, telling me all of this, I think I can start to forgive myself for what happened up there too."

The red light turned on, grabbing both of their attention. "Ah, one minute left?"

"Yeah. Mike tell you?"

"Yeah." Jessica stood up in front of the glass. "Well, don't feel too bad about the scars. Mike doesn't mind them. He's definitely seen them enough."

"What was that you said about being a preacher's daughter?"

"Well, if I didn't have sex with *someone*, I wouldn't fit the stereotype quite as well, would I?"

Josh burst out laughing. "Damn, girl, nothing is sacred to you!"

"Damn straight." The smile on her face was the most genuine Josh had ever seen it. "Well, hurry up and get well. The party Chris and Ash are planning sounds epic, and I don't want to miss that."

"Well, so long as I'm not making you miss a party…"

The two laughed as they hung up their receivers, the guards escorting Josh back out of the visitors' area, Jess laughing as she gave him a single wave goodbye.


	8. Chris 4

Chapter 8: Chris

"So, when you get out, we're totally gonna see the new Avengers movie."

"Was it good?" Josh shifted in his seat. Ever since Iron Man came out, he had wanted to see all the next movies, since it seemed like Marvel wasn't stopping any time soon with its movie franchise, and that made him happier than it really should have. He found himself frustrated that he couldn't see any of the movies that were coming out now, though.

"'Age' wasn't as good as 'Avengers', but it was still totally awesome." The look on Chris's face and the tone of his voice told Josh that he wouldn't mind seeing it again, and again, and again.

"Nice. I mean, the second ones are almost never as good as the first." He let out a chuckle. "So, you get Ashley to go with you?"

"Yeah, it was my turn to pick a movie. She got her revenge, though. Saw this chick flick a couple days afterward. Some movie called 'Far From the Madding Crowd'. Some movie where three rich guys are trying to marry some new land owner."

"Sounds lame."

"It wasn't my kind of movie, but Ash loved it, so I can't complain too much."

"Don't even lie. You totally can complain."

"No, seriously, I missed, like, half the movie. Ash kinda wanted to make out the whole time."

Josh laughed out loud. "I guess that's another one you'll be getting on DVD, then?"

The two laughed a little bit, until Josh started coughing. Chris cocked his head to the side. "Hey man, you okay?"

Josh held up his hand and nodded, the soft cough getting a little bit harder, until he violently shook, let out a loud, hacking cough, and red fluid violently erupted form his mouth. Josh simply looked like he was in shock, his hand covered in his blood, his other hand dropping the phone receiver. Chris jumped up and pounded on the glass between the two, yelling out at the door where he knew the two guards were. "Hey!" He pounded more.

The two guards came rushing in, took one look at Josh, and rushed toward him, escorting him out of the room. Chris simply stood there impotently, feeling completely helpless as he saw his friend, covered in blood, being nearly carried out of the room.

\- Two days later -

Josh smiled from his hospital bed as he watched Chris enter through the door. "Josh! Bro! You' doin' alright?"

"Yeah. Just had a little infection, side effect from the crazy pills they have me on. They got me on antibiotics, and they say it's clearing up nicely."

Chris walked over and sat in a chair right beside his bed. "A little infection? You coughed up a LOT of blood…"

"Yeah." Josh looked sheepish. "Leave it to me to make a minor problem look terrifying. The doctors said the infection just burst a blood vessel in my lungs, and the blood that came out was all the blood that was going to." He shrugged. "I didn't even have to go through any surgery." He hesitated. "Well, other than the tube they stuck down my throat to see what was going on, but I don't even remember that."

"Dude, Josh…" Chris held out his hand. Josh looked at it, and slowly raised his own to grab it grasping it around Chris's thumb. "I hope you NEVER scare me like that again."

"Chris…" A tear formed in Josh's eye. "Man, it feels so good to be able to touch SOMEONE again."

"I'm here for you man. You're my bro. I love you, man."

Josh raised an eyebrow, a smirk on his face. "Ash's gonna be devastated to know you switched teams…"

Chris immediately yanked his hand away. "Damnit, Josh, you had to make it weird…"

Josh immediately started laughing, and immediately after started coughing again. Chris stood up quickly, about to rush out and grab a nurse or a guard, but Josh grabbed his sleeve. "No, dude… *cough* I'm good… *cough cough cough* Just a little… *cough cough*" Josh sucked in a large breath and purposefully coughed hard, seeming to dislodge whatever was making his cough in the first place. "There we go. Good as new."

"Dude, you're in the hospital."

"So? What else is new?"

Chris rolled his eyes as his friend let out another small chuckle.

Without warning, another body appeared in his doorway. "Josh?"

"Ashley? What're you doing here?" Josh seemed genuinely surprised to see anyone else in the room.

"Chris told me the hospital was letting you have visitors, so I came as fast as I could." She ran over and nearly collapsed on Josh, enveloping him in the largest hug her small frame would allow.

Chris smiled and placed his hand on his best friend's shoulder. This apparently wasn't enough for Ashley, since she grabbed his shirt and drew him in to the new group hug she wanted.

Another voice sounded from the door frame. "Oh my God, I'd say 'get a room', but it looks like you already did."

The three broke and looked to the door frame to see Jessica smirking at them, hair completely blonde, makeup completely and expertly applied, and wearing the kind of low cut shirt she always used to, the barest hint of her scar tissue peeking out from the lowest point. Mike approached her from behind. He threw up his arm in a wave. "Hey!"

"Jess! Mike!" Josh yelled out. He looked back over to Chris. "Did you guys know they were coming?"

"No, they just kind of showed up." Chis smiled. "I see you're super disappointed."

Ash giggled cutely. "I kinda told them as soon as I found out you could have visitors."

Josh noticed the two staying in the door frame. "Well, don't just stand there, get in here!"

The two walked in the door, and that was when Josh noticed Mike holding the brown paper bag. Mike noticed as well, and handed it to him as soon as he was close enough. "I figured you were probably sick of hospital food."

"Yeah, they have me on this really crappy diet." He looked in the bag. "Is this… is this?"

"Yeah." Mike shook his head. "You always liked the weirdest shit…"

Chris rolled his eyes, while Jessica and Ashley simply looked confused. "What?" Ash managed out.

Josh took the packaged wrapped in red-and-white checkered paper, opened one side, and looked at the burger in absolute delight. "Aw, yeah! Monster burger, medium-rare, pickles, bacon, onions, avocado, cream cheese, and one egg, sunny side up!"

"You are so friggin weird…" Chris continued to shake his head.

"Hey, don't knock it 'till you try it…"

"That burger looks like a heart attack between two buns." Jessica wrinkled her nose up in disgust. "Seriously, you have, like, THE weirdest taste buds."

Josh seriously couldn't remember all the conversations that started from that point. He ended up just enjoying his burger, listening to his friends converse and laugh around him, laughing at the jokes he would sometimes interject in the conversations. There was no glass between them, no five-minute time limits, no one-person-at-a-time rule. For the first time in over a year, Josh felt normal again. He felt like himself again. He felt happy.


	9. Matt

Chapter 9: Matt

Matt sat on the other side of the glass, a small smile playing on his lips, as Josh looked at him warily, the look on Matt's face making him feel uneasy. He picked up the phone and waited for Josh to do the same. After only a moment of hesitation, Josh followed suit. "Hey, Josh. How're you doing in there?"

Josh nodded. "I'm alright."

"I heard you had to go to the hospital. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just had a minor… complication with my medicine." Josh shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Gotcha. They got it sorted out now?" The tone of Matt's voice wavered. The smile on his face seemed to be for Josh's benefit, not actually genuine. It was almost like Matt was trying to put on a brave face.

"Matt, you don't have to lie. You can be straight with me." Josh tapped into any kind of courage he could find in himself and looked Matt in the eye. "I know… you probably blame me for…"

Matt interrupted him. "I don't." His smile faded completely, and he averted his eyes. "Josh, you didn't do anything to me. But I…" A tear fell down his cheek. "I betrayed your sister. I betrayed Beth."

Josh couldn't find a way to respond to that, so he just continued to listen. The silence between then was deafening until Matt broke it again.

"I should've known that prank was a bad idea. I knew how sensitive Hannah was, and how protective Beth could get, and I went and filmed the damn thing anyway."

"Matt, stop, you couldn't have known…"

Matt cut him off again. "Yes, I could have. I was her boyfriend, Josh."

That caught him off guard. He had almost forgotten that Matt and Beth had started dating shortly before his sisters had gone missing.

Matt continued. "I was supposed to be the one looking out for her, and I failed." More tears fell down his cheeks as he tried to wipe them away with his ever-present letter jacket. "I was never good enough for her. I just proved it that night. So, yeah. It IS my fault they're dead. At the very least, I should have run out after them."

"Matt, stop." Josh couldn't listen to any more of this. "If you had gone after them, you'd probably be dead too. We know what's out there now. Stop blaming yourself. No one was doing the right thing that night. I shouldn't have gotten blackout drunk with Chris, either."

"At least you had an excuse, Jodie broke up with you, like, two days before that, right?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah. She was supposed to come up with us, but then she ended up just telling me she had been sleeping with Justin…"

"Damn, dude…"

"Yeah. You can't say you were a terrible boyfriend, you never cheated on Beth…"

"Josh, I…"

Now it was Josh's turn to cut Matt off. "You made a terrible mistake, and I lost my sisters. It happened. Nothing anyone can do about it now. I made a terrible mistake, and sent every one of my friends through a night of terror that they'll carry for the rest of their lives. Hannah made a terrible mistake, and went up to meet Mike when she knew he was with Em. There's nothing we can do to change any of that. What we CAN do is change how things are gonna play out from here on."

The tears slowed down Matt's face. He simply looked at his old friend. "When did you get so mature?"

"It comes and goes. Give it a minute." Josh chuckled, and Matt let out a laugh despite himself. "Seriously, though, if it means anything to you, I forgive you. You made a bad decision. I can relate."

Matt nodded solemnly. He looked back up at his friend, his face showing once again his attempt to be brave, though the smile he started with was gone. "So, uh, did Em tell you…"

"I haven't seen her since the mountain, but I heard. I'm sorry, man."

"What?" The look of confusion on Matt's face told Josh that the two of them were talking about two completely different things. "I'm talking about what she found up there."

Josh did a small double take. "Wait, what do you mean, 'what she found up there'?"

Matt shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Dude, Emily… she found Beth."

"What?" Josh yelled out louder than he intended, getting the guards' attention. He shrank further back into his chair. "She… she found…" He shook his head. "Where? Where is she?"

"Josh, she found her, or, you know, what was left, in the mines up there."

Josh's energy suddenly left him, like he had just been hit in the chest with a truck. He had accepted a long time ago that her sisters were probably dead, and seeing Hannah in the mines, twisted, gnarled, and monstrous had been bad enough, enough to send him into a complete psychotic break in the first place. But learning that Beth's body had been found, and that there was no longer any question that his sister was dead, hit him harder than he ever thought it would. He remained immobile, tears starting to fall down his face. He couldn't even muster the energy to wipe them off. It took all his energy to hold the phone up to his ear.

Matt hesitantly continued, speaking softly to not cause him any more stress. "Josh, man, I'm so, so sorry. I… I just thought you should know." He cleared his throat. "Emily and I have been talking. We're going back up to Blackwood Pines."

That got Josh's attention. He filled with panic. He had lost both of his sisters up on that cursed mountain, and he had almost lost all of his friends up there as well. "No, dude, Matt, you can't! You know what's up there."

"Josh, hold on, let me explain…"

"No, dude, no! You can't go back up there! YOU CAN'T!" Panic gave him strength, and he found himself standing up, almost screaming into the phone.

"Josh, we're going prepared! We know what's up there, and we're going with a group of hunters and survivors! We're gonna get Hannah and Beth's bodies, and bring them back!"

"NO! YOU CAN'T! I CAN'T LOSE YOU TO THOSE THINGS TOO!" Spittle flew from Josh's mouth as the terror overcame him. The guards had rushed into the room and grabbed a hold of Josh, trying to restrain him and take the phone away. He held on to the phone for dear life. "MATT! DON'T GO BACK UP THERE! PLEASE! PLEASE!" One of the guards started yelling out to the door, and three more guards came in, one holding a syringe. Matt stood up, and places his hands on the glass, yelling something through the window, but Josh couldn't make it out through the screaming all around him. Pain shot through his butt cheek, and the world around him quickly faded to black. The last thing he saw was Matt, yelling desperately through the glass at him, and a red light, reflecting off the glass.


	10. Dr AJ Hill

Chapter 10: Dr. A.J. Hill

Josh sat in the office, white walls, no windows, and a simple couch, desk, and chair. Josh sat on the couch, the beige upholstery clashing with the sterile room. He saw the inside of this room more often than his own cell, he mused to himself. His sessions with Dr. Hill had been going very well, previously, but with his 'loss of control' when he had seen Matt, he had been denied any further visitors and had been placed in solitary confinement until he had calmed down. He was in solitary for a full day. Now, he waited until his psychiatrist arrived. He was always put in the room before Dr. Hill got there. Dr. Hill claimed it was to put him at ease with his surroundings before they began. Josh found himself admitting to himself that he may actually prefer the fake Dr. Hill he hallucinated on the mountain to the real one.

The door opened, and the familiar long face and thinning hair of the man he saw more than any other walking in, a folder in his hands. "Hello, Joshua. How are you feeling today?"

Josh waited until Dr. Hill sat down at his plain wooden desk to answer. "I'm… okay…"

"Now, Joshua, you know you have to be honest with me if I'm going to help you."

Josh let out a frustrated sigh. "Well, what do you want to hear? I freaked out. My friend, my sister's old boyfriend, said he was going back up to that fucking mountain. He can't! He just can't go up there!"

Dr. Hill raised his hands defensively. "Hold on, now _why_ can't he go back up to the mountain?"

Josh shook his head. "You won't believe me. You never have. You never will. But they know. They know what's up there."

"Who knows what's up there?"

"My friends! Who do you think? Who else could I be talking about!?" Josh nearly jumped off the couch, but caught himself before he made his situation worse.

Dr. Hill took a deep breath. "You need to calm down, Joshua. I'm here to help, and I will help in any way I can." He opened back up the file in front of him. "Now, we've been over this. The police were all over that mountain, and they never found any trace of these _monsters_ you had been talking about. They only found you up in those mountains. You and the body of that hiker."

Josh looked up, trying to keep his composure. "Hiker? How many hikers do you know that carry flamethrowers?"

"Joshua…" Dr. Hill kept most of the frustration out of his voice. "We had been making so much progress. Please, think about the past months. You know those things, these… _monsters_ … don't exist. There is nothing up in those mountains. Even if your friends do go back up there, nothing is going to happen to them."

"No, no, you're not listening!" He looked into the older man's eyes in desperation. "Please! They're going back up there, into the mines! They can't go back!"

"Joshua!" Dr. Hill stood up. "Listen to me. Your friends are safe. They are all alive. Nothing is going to change that. Your sisters went missing, but that doesn't mean they were killed by monsters, and it doesn't mean they became monsters either."

Josh's mind searched frantically for something, _anything_ , to keep his friends safe. "Please, just let me call one of them. Just one phone call!"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Joshua."

"STOP SAYING MY NAME LIKE THAT!"

"Joshua…" Dr. Hill's voice lowered to a tone that Josh recognized. Every time his tone lowered like that, he spent the next week on several sedatives to keep him calm. The guards and psychiatrists called it calm. Josh called it numb.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." His head fell into his hands. His friends were going back up to that mountain, they were going to die, and he was stuck there, powerless. He felt his hands get wet as tears of frustration came out. "I'm not crazy anymore… I'm not crazy anymore…" Josh's head snapped up. "They've seen them too."

"Who?"

"My friends, Matt and Emily. They've seen these monsters too."

"Joshua…" Dr. Hill seemed at his limit, frustration clearly showing on his features. "We need to bring you back to reality. I know we just lowered your medication levels because of that complication, but I think we may need to bring them back up…"

"No, listen for a second, please!" Dr. Hill shut his mouth and looked at Josh. "If my friends are seeing these monsters too, and they go back up to the place where we all saw them, then they're in danger from themselves! If they're suffering from the same delusions I am, they're just as much a danger to each other as I was!"

Dr. Hill let out a sigh. "That seems logical."

"Please, just one phone call, that's all I need to make sure my friends don't hurt each other!"

The doctor shook his head. "I want to believe you, Joshua. I really do. But I feel like you're telling me what you think I want to hear." He closed the folder again. "I don't think that any communication with anyone outside this facility is a good idea right now.

Josh's hands clenched. "Okay, no phone calls. If they're a danger to themselves, then you can go get them! Detain them for their own safety! Their names are Matt Samson and Emily Lang! I have their phone numbers, their addresses…"

"Joshua, your friends all went through psychiatric evaluations too. None of them needed to be detained, and we can't just detain people without just cause." He let out a defeated sigh, sat back down, and opened the folder back up, taking a pen out of his shirt pocket and wrote something down in the folder. Josh already knew what he was writing. "I'm afraid we'll need to keep you under observation for a while. I'm going to prescribe a regimen of sedatives to…"

"No, no no no no no no no…" Josh's head fell into his hands as he stopped listening to anything that was going around him. His friends were going to die. There was nothing he could do. His friends were going to die.


	11. Mike 2

Chapter 11: Mike

"Dude, what happened? Are you okay?"

Josh only shook his head. It had been a full month since his conversation with Matt, and the doctors were finally letting him have visitors again. "Mike, you have to stop Matt. You have to."

"What?"

"You have to stop them. Stop Matt and Emily. Please." He struggled to keep his voice low. He couldn't afford any more time lost.

Mike simply looked confused through the glass. "Whoa, slow down. Stop them from what?"

Josh looked straight into Mike's eyes, barely concealing panic and terror. "Stop them from going back up on that mountain." His voice wavered, but never pitched up or got loud.

"What? Why would they go back up to…"

"Matt said Em found Beth. He said they were gonna go back up to bring back…" Josh chocked on the words. "their, Hannah and Beth's, bodies…"

Mike sat still for a second, until his brows furled and his voice erupted in anger. "Oh, like HELL they are." He placed his hand on the glass. "Josh, I'm getting a cup of coffee with Emily after this. She finally started talking to us again. I'll put a stop to it. I promise."

Josh's eyes stared right into Mike's for a moment, Mike staring right back at him. After a moment, Mike's eyes showing a hint of panic, yet mostly the determination he remembered from his partner in crime, Josh let himself blink, releasing a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Thanks, man. I… I can't lose anyone else to that fucking place."

"Yeah. Neither can I." Mike took his hand off the glass and sat back in his chair, determination in his face.

Josh allowed himself to relax for the first time in a month. "Mike, I cannot tell you how good it is to see you."

"Yeah, you too, man." Mike looked around behind the glass, to make sure none of the guards were coming in. "What happened? Chris said the last three times he showed up here, they turned him away."

"After Matt told me their plan, the doctors decided that I shouldn't see anyone. They… they kept me on sedatives for a long time. They said it was a week, but it felt longer." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I tried to get them to let me make a phone call. I tried so hard to stop them…"

"Mother fuckers." Mike shook his head. "Dude, it's okay. You got word out in time. Em's been talking about some kind of project she's been working on, and a trip she was taking next week. She's been being super vague about it, too. I guess now I know why."

"You won't let her or Matt go, will you?"

"I'll tie them both to my couch if I have to." Mike let a confident smile show on his lips. "Trust me, I won't let you down. I'm not gonna let anything else happen to one of us."

"Thanks, Mike." Josh took another deep breath. "You have no idea how much better I feel now."

"You were dealing with this for a month. How did you get them to let you see anyone again?"

"I played the game." Josh shrugged. "I told them what they wanted to hear about those monsters, and acted like a rational, sane human being that doesn't believe in ghosts or goblins."

Mike shook his head again. "Fuckin' psychiatrists, man. Play by their rules or don't play at all." He looked back up to Josh. "You gotta get out of here, man."

"I know, right?" Josh looked down at his orange jumpsuit. "Orange really isn't my color at all."

The two let out quiet laughs, Mike looking a little relieved to see that Josh could still crack jokes. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. He took a deep breath, and tightened his hold on the phone. "I never apologized to you."

Josh looked up at his friend. "Yes, you did." When Mike looked at him, confused, he kept going. "You came up to see me. You came up to support me. After everything I did, you still came up. You don't need to say anything about it."

"Yes I do." Mike struggled for the words. Josh knew he was terrible at apologizing. "I'm… sorry. I'm sorry for what happened to Hannah. And I'm sorry I went along with Jess's prank."

"Mike…" Josh's voice trailed off immediately.

"I wish I could go back, treat Hannah right. She really was beautiful."

"Do you remember the Alberta Championships?"

Mike looked back through the glass. "How could I forget that? If there's one thing Hannah could do, it was play tennis."

"She was so excited when she found out you were coming to cheer her on." Josh smiled as he let out a quick laugh, no more than a single breath. "She kept talking about it for weeks afterward. She saw you, in the stands, cheering for her, calling out her name."

"We were all calling out her name, Josh."

"I know. But she saw you."

Mike's head dropped a little. "I really was an asshole, wasn't I?"

"What? No, you were there for her. You were her friend. She may have wanted more, but…" Josh and Mike stayed in silence for a moment.

"I remember how well she played. Third place in the whole province." He let out a sad chuckle. "I had a great view, too."

"You were almost completely behind her…"

"I know. She had a really nice ass."

Josh's nose wrinkled up in disgust. "Dude! Still my sister…"

Mike cracked up, trying to stifle his laugh. Without warning, the red light turned on, grabbing both of their attention. "Shit. Well, time to go talk to Em, I guess."

"Make sure to get to Matt too." Josh's face went back to the worried look he had started with. "We can't let either of them go back up there."

"I'll call Sam, and we'll both go see Em, then see Matt after. They can't say no to both of us."

"Thanks, Mike. For everything. Seriously."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right? Pulling each other's asses out of the fire?"

Josh let out a chuckle as he felt the guards walk up right behind him. He hung up the receiver and watched as Mike nodded to him intently.


	12. Emily

Chapter 12: Emily

Emily simply sat, her eyes burning holes through Josh, the phone up to her ear. Her hair was in almost exactly the same style it was up on the mountain, though she wasn't wearing her fur-lined jacket, having replaced it with a dark grey blouse. It was probably a designer label. Still, Josh figured nothing but the best for Emily. He took a deep breath, and picked up the receiver, placing it to his ear.

"You son of a bitch."

"I see you're as pleasant as ever…" Josh tried to smile, but this conversation was already starting out uncomfortable.

"Don't even start with me, Josh." Emily pointed right at Josh. "You told Mike. You knew they wouldn't approve, and you told them."

Josh's other arm went up in a half-shrug. "You were planning to get yourself killed, what was I supposed to do?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe trust that I KNOW WHAT THE FUCK I'M DOING!"

"You obviously don't. Those things, they're faster, stronger, they know the area…"

"Wendigos fear fire."

Josh stared at Emily blankly for a moment. "Wendi… what?"

"Wendigos, Josh. They're called Wendigos." She held up a tattered, leather-bound book. "I have the old man's journal. We know everything about them."

"Oh, yeah, you're so fucking smart. And what were you planning on doing when they came for you, impress them with your GPA?"

"Fuck you, Josh." Emily slammed the book down on the table, barely rattling the glass wall separating the two. "I was going up there with twenty trained hunters and other survivors. One monster wasn't gonna do shit." She sat back, and her voice softened a little, though she was still clearly pissed. "I don't understand why you're so worried. I was going up there for your sister, after all."

Josh swallowed the lump in his throat that came when Emily mentioned Beth. "Beth and Hannah are dead, Em. I don't want you to die too."

"I'm not going to die. And now, I'm apparently not going up there, since Mike said he'd slash my tires before he let me set foot on that mountain again."

Now, Josh let himself smile. Mike really was determined. "Good man."

"Oh, shut up." She rolled her eyes. "Thanks to you, Mike told everyone, and they had some kind of 'intervention'. Sam was crying, Josh. You made Sam cry."

"No, Em. YOU made Sam cry. You were planning on going up there. God, why can't you ever take responsibility for your own actions?" Josh caught himself just a little too late.

"Oh, that's rich, coming from Mr. 'convince all his friends they're gonna die'. Asshole."

Josh simply let Emily fume for a second before he opened his mouth again. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Yeah, fine." She shook her head, her eyes rolling again. "It's not like the group isn't going. And I told them where Beth's head is, so we should at least get to bury her."

Josh froze again. "Her… head?"

Now Emily froze. "Wait, Matt said he told you…"

"He said you found her remains…"

Her head lowered, her bangs falling in front of her face. "Oh, God. Josh, that was all that was left." Josh had seen remorse on Emily's face before, it was just such a rare occurrence that he was never quite sure when it happened. He was pretty sure that's what was showing on her face now, though. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew."

Josh simply sat there in a bit of shock for a moment. "Do… do you know what happened?"

Emily solemnly nodded. "Yeah, we kinda figured it out."

Again, silence fell between the two. Josh broke it once again. "Well?"

"You really don't want to know."

"I know. But I need to know. Otherwise… well, you saw what happened when I didn't know what happened to them."

Emily shook her head. "However bad you imagined it, it's worse, I promise."

"Em…" Josh took a deep breath. "You're the only one that'll tell me the truth about it. You're the only one I can count on to do that, to not spare my feelings."

Emily sighed heavily. "Okay. Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Noted. I just need to know how Hannah turned into one of those things, those 'Wendigos'."

"Well, they fell off that cliff, just west of the lodge, and into this huge mine shaft that's down there."

Josh nodded. "Yeah, that's where the search parties found me."

"Well, they fell a long way, but Hannah, she didn't die from the fall." She took another deep breath, trying to steady her voice from shaking. "She was down there, starving to death, for weeks while we were all up top, looking for her."

Josh's eyes widened as Emily spoke. "Oh my God…"

"I found Hannah's glasses and her pendant, and Sam found Beth's watch, and a grave laid out for her. She and Mike also found a diary Hannah was keeping down there, written on these old medical files or something." She swallowed nothing and shook her head. "She wrote down what it was like to become one of those…" Emily found her voice leaving her.

Josh simply lowered his eyes, trying to process what his friend was telling him. "So, you spend enough time in those mines, and you become one of those things?"

Emily visibly straightened her back, trying to steel herself. "No, you… you have to… eat… human flesh" she had difficulty getting out the words.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, who did she eat? Who could she eat? Why would she…"

"Josh, she was down there for weeks, with Beth's body… she was starving to death. She had to. She didn't have any choice."

Josh's hand immediately covered his mouth instinctively, as nausea started to overwhelm him. Emily was right. He really didn't want to know. "Oh, God, Hannah…"

"Josh, I'm so, so sorry. You don't know how sorry I am that that happened." She was cut off by the red light.

Josh looked up to the light, then back down. He shook his head. "Well, thanks for telling me the truth, at least. I'm… I'm gonna need some time to process this."

Emily slowly nodded. "I understand. Will you be okay?"

Now Josh nodded, barely enough to be even considered a nod, but still there, nonetheless. "I think so. I… I will be, at least."

Emily noticed the guards approaching Josh from behind. "Will you get out of here soon?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if it's too long, I'll come up and visit you again." She let a small, sad smile form on her lips. "I'll even do my best not to yell at you, okay?"

Josh let out a single quiet laugh despite himself. "Yeah. I'd like that." He stood up as the guards motioned for him to hang up. He looked into Emily's eyes as she stared back at him. "Thank you for telling me. Seriously." Emily didn't respond as Josh hung up the phone, turned, and was escorted back through the doorway.


	13. Chris 5

Chapter 13: Chris

Chris sat on the other side of the security glass, a concerned look on his face. "Hey, Josh."

"Hey, Chris. Long time no see."

"What happened, man? I mean, Mike told me the doctors kept you sedated after Matt came to visit, but I tried coming up here, like, three times."

Josh shook his head solemnly. "I know. They didn't, you know, go back up there, did they?"

"No, when Mike told Sam what Matt and Emily were planning, Ashley was with her, and they both kinda freaked out." Chris shrugged. "We all kinda went to see them together to stop them. Matt agreed to not go up, but Em was pissed."

"Yeah, I noticed." After noting the confused look on Chris's face, Josh continued. "She came up to see me a couple days ago. Really read me the riot act."

Chris chuckled softly. "Yeah, that sounds like Em."

"Well, after Matt told me what they were planning, I kinda freaked out, and the doctors thought I was going psychotic again."

"Shit. Well, are you okay?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah. I haven't freaked out since then, and they told me they think it happened because they reduced my medication so much."

"They took you off some medication?" Chris raised an eyebrow, a little concerned.

"Nah, man, they just reduced the dosage. I started on twelve milligrams of medicine, and after that infection, they reduced it to four. They brought me back up to eight, and I'm doing really good." A smile showed on Josh's face. "They think they got me on the right dosage now. No infections, no more shaking, no more dizziness, my anxiety is down, it's actually really nice. I feel good."

"That's awesome, man!"

"Oh, that's not even the best part!" Josh's smile grew wider. "My parents are back, so in a couple days, they're gonna review my case to see if I can be released!"

"What, really?" Chris mentally backed up. "Wait, what do you mean your parents are 'back'?"

"You didn't know? They were in New Zealand for a movie shoot since January." He shrugged. "But they're back, and they even came to see me yesterday."

"Nice!"

"I mean, if I am released, I'll be released into their custody, and I'll still have to come back here every week, but…"

"Dude, you'll be free! We can hang whenever!"

Josh's smile faded a little. "Well, until you start at UBC, anyway…"

Chris's face turned to the side, a disbelieving look appeared on his face. "Dude, I'm not actually going to their main campus for, like, two years. Gotta finish up the preliminaries first, and that's all community college and online courses."

"Wait, really?"

"Not everyone is as rich as you are, Josh. Most of us gotta find the least expensive way to get to college." Chris showed a knowing grin to his friend. "By the time I'm going, you'll be able to get to college yourself."

"Yeah, I guess so." Josh smiled, but it didn't seem to reach his eyes.

"Dude, Josh, bro, you've come back in, what, six months?" Chris leaned in closer to Josh. "You're gonna be fine. You got us all here with you."

Josh's head lowered. "Well, almost."

"Dude, Sam'll… she'll come around…" Chris's voice wavered.

"It's been six months. Everyone's come up to see me except her. Even Emily was here."

"Dude, she just... needs time…" Chris's voice faded out.

"You know it's not that simple, man. What I did, I mean, no one deserved it, but you and Sam, you guys REALLY didn't deserve it." Josh shook his head. "I was surprised as hell that you came back. I mean, I guess it was too much to hope for both of your guys to forgive me."

"Josh…"

"See, you're not even sure about her anymore. You can't even say she's gonna come around with any confidence."

Chris hesitated. "Man, she will. If Ash could, Sam will too. I'll talk to her, she's hanging out with Ash today, and I usually get there before she leaves. I'll make sure she knows how well you're doing, and how much like your old self you are."

Josh slowly nodded, still seeming crestfallen. "Yeah, thanks man."

"Bro, you know Ash and I are pulling for you too, right?" Chris sat back in his chair. "Come on, Ash and I were dancing around each other for, what, three years? Sam'll forgive you. I promise." Noting Josh's lack of response, he leaned forward again, looking right into Josh's eyes. "I promise."

"Yeah, well, you never hurt Ashley. Not on purpose."

"Josh, you didn't mean to hurt any of us. Even off your meds and crazy as hell, you still just meant it as a prank. We know that. Sam knows it."

"I hope you're right, bro. I hope you're right."

Without warning, the red light turned on once more. Chris shook his head. "Shit, well, I'll come back in a couple days to see how the review went. The sooner you get outta here, the better." Josh didn't say anything in response. "And hey, when you do, you'll be able to ask Sam what's going on yourself. I'll see you in a couple of days, okay?"

Josh stood up. "Yeah, sure." He moved to hang up the phone, but stopped and placed it next to his head once more. "Chris, thanks. Thank you for everything, for always being here for me, and for believing in me, even when no one else did."

"Josh, you're my bro. I'll always be here for you, man."

The guards approached Josh from behind. Josh merely smiled and hung up the phone.

Two days later

"You have a visitor." Josh stood up in his secured room and approached the door, where one of the guards stood on the other side. Before the door opened, the guard continued. "Are you sure you're okay? You were really depressed after the last visitor you had."

"Yeah, I'm good." Josh put on a brave face. "Besides, I gotta tell Chris that the review went well."

"Yeah, I heard you were getting outta here in a week. Going back home?"

"Yep. Totally gonna miss this place."

The guard rolled his eyes and smiled, having gotten used to Josh Washington's sense of humor. "Just make sure you don't ever come back, you hear?"

Josh nodded. "You can count on it." He followed the guard to the visitors area, thinking about how Chris was going to react to the news, that in a week, he was going to be beating his best friend in every video game ever once again. He sat down in the far too familiar grey plastic chairs, picked up the phone, and froze. Seeing the person on the other side of the glass, he could only utter one word.

"Sam…"


	14. Sam

Chapter 14: Sam

Josh's heart raced a million miles an hour, the phone pressed against his ear. He couldn't seem to get out any more words.

"Hi Josh." Sam looked at him with a soft, neutral expression through the wired glass.

"Uh, hey. It's, uh, nice to see you." All the planning of what he was going to say when Sam came went out the window, and Josh found himself barely able to construct sentences.

Sam, on the other hand, seemed cool, calm, and collected. Impartial, even. She didn't seem angry, but she wasn't happy either. "Yeah. I hear you're doing a whole lot better. On new medications that're helping?"

"Yeah, yeah. The side effects aren't fun, but whatcha gonna do?" He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "So, how're you doing?"

"I'm doing okay, I guess." She shook her head. "I… I came up here to thank you."

Josh blinked. "Wait, what? Thank me for what?"

"For telling Mike about Matt and Emily's plan. For getting the word out. Thank you." The tone of Sam's voice didn't match her words. Her voice was even, cold, distant. Her eyes looked into Josh's but it was like she was looking through him, rather than at him.

"Yeah. I mean, what else was I gonna do?" Josh quietly cleared his throat. "Sam, I know it's gotta be hard to be here, and I just want you to know how sorry I am for everything that happened up at Blackwood. I'm so sorry I hurt you. I can't tell you how much I wish I could take it back…"

"Josh…" Sam quietly interrupted. Josh stopped talking immediately. "I forgave you a long time ago. You were on the wrong medications, and you were in pain. Pain makes people do crazy things."

"You do?" Josh's head rose up a little, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Sam's voice was still distant, but Josh trusted her to be telling the truth.

"Of course I do. But…"

Josh's heart sank.

"You planned it out for months, Josh. There's no way you didn't plan out that insanity for months."

"Yeah."

"I was spending nearly every day with you, and you never told me anything about it. I… I thought we had a connection." Sam's voice started to waver. Josh could tell she was trying to keep her composure. "I thought you told me everything. Why didn't you tell me what you were planning?"

"I wanted to, Sam. I really did. But I was afraid. I was afraid you'd stop me, that you'd think I was crazy, and I couldn't handle that."

Sam's voice grew a little louder. "You're damn right I would've stopped you."

"And I know that's what I should have done, doing all those horrible things, I should've been stopped. I should have told you." A tear fell from Josh's eye, quickly stopped by his sleeve scrubbing furiously at his face. "I should've told you what was going on. But I didn't. I was so convinced that you guys were gonna love it, that you'd understand once it was done…"

"And when we were up there, you hurt me Josh. Not just from dragging me out from under that bed, not just by chasing me through the lodge, and that hotel underneath, not just for knocking me out. You made me think I'd lost you completely. First, I thought you were dead, then I thought your mind was gone." Sam's voice cracked, her body shook, and tears started flowing out of her eyes. "And, God, when Mike told me that you'd been taken by those things..." Her voice trailed off.

"Sam, I'm so, so sorry I put you through that. I'm so sorry I made you think I had died, and I'm so sorry…"

"I was relieved." Sam's words stopped Josh's right in his throat. She continued. "I hated thinking about the kind of things those things would've done to you, but Josh, I was relieved when I thought you'd been killed. Not because you had hurt me, but because if you were dead, you couldn't be hurt anymore." Sam's body shook even more as she sobbed. "And now, you're back, and you seem like you're back to your old self…" Josh couldn't do anything except cry along with Sam. The two simply sat for a moment, allowing the tears to come out. After a moment, Sam had calmed down enough to start speaking in an even tone again, her eye coming back up to meet with Josh's. "I'm sorry, Josh. I forgave you a long time ago, but I don't know how I could ever trust you again."

"Sam…" Josh choked out the name.

"You said that night that you were glad I was there. Not just that everyone was there, but that I was." Sam locked eyes with Josh, and it seemed like she was looking at him this time. "What did you mean by that?"

Josh, tears still falling from his face, his throat burning, and his nose running, quickly tried to scrub everything away with his sleeve. "You know what I meant."

"Yeah. But I need to hear you say it."

Josh slowly nodded. "I… I have feelings for you, Sam." He let out a single morose laugh. "I guess that's one of the reasons why I was pushing so hard for Chris and Ashley to get together. I thought I saw similarities in them to the way we were." He softly shook his head. "I fell for you during that year, that year you were helping me out and being there for me after my sisters went missing. I felt so lost, but then there you were, always there for me."

"Do you still have feelings for me?"

Josh could only nod.

Sam's eyes fell back to the table. "I never told you that I had the biggest crush on you in high school."

Josh let surprise overtake the sadness on his features for a moment. "Really?"

Sam let out a single, breathy, depressing laugh. "Of course. You were my best friend's older brother, you were a YouTube celebrity, you were friends with so many of the popular kids in school, Mike, Matt…" She shook her head. "You were so smart, and funny, and nice… You were the unobtainable one. Always with that perfect girlfriend of yours."

"Jodie wasn't perfect."

"I didn't know that at the time. I didn't know she would cheat on you. You just seemed so… perfect together."

Josh jumped a little when he saw the red light come on. He immediately turned and saw the guards approaching him. "Hold on, please, this is important. Can you give me a few more minutes?" After the guards froze for a second, he continued. "Please, I'm gonna be out of here in a week, anyway. What harm is a few more minutes gonna do?"

One of the guards held up his hand in a gesture that said 'wait a moment' and pulled out a cell phone with his other. He turned around and spoke quietly into it, so quietly that Josh couldn't hear what was going on. After a moment, the red light turned off. The guard turned back around and nodded at Josh. "Alright, the doctor doesn't think you'll be any danger to anyone if you talk with her."

Josh breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you." He turned back around. "Sorry, Sam. Go ahead."

"After Hannah and Beth went missing, you just shut down. You weren't yourself anymore." Sam sniffed a little. "I was there for you because we had both lost Hannah, and we were the only ones that could understand what we were really going through. I was friends with her since fourth grade. And during that year, I felt closer to you than I ever had. But you were broken. I mean, I was too, but you were just gone. I felt so sorry for you." She shook her head. "At first, I had wished you would confess to me, or I wish I had the guts to confess to you, but the more I thought about it, the less I wanted it." Tears started to flow down her cheeks again, her body softly shaking with sobs. "You were broken, and I realized that we weren't really caring for each other, but needing each other". She sniffed loudly, trying to keep her nose from running. "And then, up at the cabin, after you started that prank, I barely recognized you. It was like you were someone completely different. The old you, the you I fell for, would never hurt anyone. But he was gone." Sam's voice ended in a whisper before she broke down in silent sobs.

Josh couldn't move his eyes away from the blonde girl in front of him. "Why are you telling me this?"

Sam slowly looked back into Josh's eyes through the glass, her eyes red and puffy, tears streaking down her face, taking the tiny amount of eyeliner she had put on with them. "I just didn't want to end things without being honest with you."

Josh's heart clenched painfully in his chest. He knew what that meant, though he didn't want to admit it. "What? End things… Sam, please…"

Sam started to push the chair she was in back. She used her own sleeve to wipe the tears, snot, and running makeup off her face. "I should go." She stood up, and began to move the phone away from her ear.

Josh quickly stood up and spoke loudly into the phone. "Wait, Sam!" The desperation in his voice caused her to stop in her tracks. He knew he couldn't stop her, and that he shouldn't. She had to make her own choices, but this was just too painful to bear. Everyone, every single one of his friends had forgiven him and let him, at least partially, back into their lives. Every one of them except the one he really, truly wanted. He felt as though life were mocking him, losing his sisters, losing his mind, and losing his friends and the woman he loved, the woman who just admitted had feelings for him as well, and just gave him hope long enough to yank it unceremoniously away from him. The feelings of anger welled up in him, but they were all directed at him. He remembered every tiny thing he had done to the girl in front of him. He deserved to never see her again. He just couldn't bear the thought of it. He simply said the only thing he could. "Will… will I ever see you again?"

Sam hesitated for a moment, an eternity in one second. Her voice came out as a whisper, but drowned out all other noise around it. "Goodbye, Josh."

Josh could only stare impotently, frozen in place, as he watched Sam hang up the phone, sling her purse over her shoulder, turn around, and walk out the door, silent sobs wracking her body more and more as she walked out, until she turned the corner, and was gone. His strength left him, and he fell into the plastic chair. The numbness lasted for only a moment, until he couldn't do anything except curl up on his chair and let the tears out.


	15. Released

Chapter 15: Released

The door on the chain link fence opened, and Josh walked through, finally in clothes that weren't orange, seeing the slightly cloudy blue sky and feeling the relatively hot August weather for the first time in months. As he walked out the gate, he saw two very familiar sites. One sight was his parents, standing right outside their car. The car was dark blue, almost black, and new, probably one of the new Jaguars. If there was one thing he and his dad had in common, it was their love of Jaguars. That, and their obsession with horror movies, Josh mused to himself. He simply shook his head. To their left was the other familiar sight, another car, an orange-red hatchback, the Ford Focus if he wasn't mistaken, with Chris and Ashley standing in front of it. The two started to walk toward him, but they were immediately cut off by his parents, his mother latching onto him in the tightest hug he had ever felt the tiny woman give. His father stayed just behind, watching with a somewhat amused, somewhat concerned smile. "Oh God Josh I'm so glad you're out I've missed you so much I'm sorry we were gone for so long but we couldn't leave and I said I could go but then no one would be around to get the payroll done correctly because heaven help me if your father could actually take care of money but I tried to get home and we just couldn't…" Josh found himself softly laughing as his mother, who was a full head shorter than him, just rambled into his shirt. And, of course, she had to get in a barb about his father. That's just the kind of woman she was. It was all in love, but she held nothing sacred. Melinda Washington was like a smart, short, brunette version of Jessica.

Josh's arms wrapped around his mother. "Mom, it's okay. I understand." He simply held his mother for a moment before looking up to see his father looking at him, still the same wry smile on his face. "Uh, hey Dad."

"You burned down my lodge."

Josh knew exactly what his father was doing. One of the ways they had bonded when he was home was through sarcasm. He let out a small, quick laugh, one that never reached his eyes. "Well, technically, that was them." He pointed his chin at Chris and Ashley.

"Hey!" Ashley looked a little offended, but Chris simply chuckled to himself, having seen these antics before.

Bob Washington silently chuckled and walked up to his son, standing just behind his wife. Bob and Josh were spitting images of each other, the only difference between them being Bob's slightly graying hair and squarer jaw, but otherwise they looked almost exactly alike. "I'm glad you're coming home."

"I'm glad you're back too. So, how long until your next project?" Josh knew that when they had a project, they had to leave for long periods of time.

"Not for a while. We don't have anything else on the books for the moment." Bob cleared his throat. "I mean, we'll have to go see the studio heads in about a week, but that'll take a couple of days, at most. Then we're home for good."

After a moment of silence, Chris and Ashley walked up as well, confident they weren't going to step on a moment. "Hey, Josh. Glad you're out."

Josh merely nodded. Seeing Chris with Ashley so closely, holding hands, brought back the memories of his encounter with Sam a week ago. His eyes misted, and he held his mother a little bit tighter. Ashley caught on immediately. She walked up to Josh's side, letting go of Chris's hand, and hugged josh just beside his mother. "I'm so sorry, Josh." She looked up into Josh's eyes to see a tear fall from one of them. "Sam… she told me…"

Chris immediately approached the three as Melinda and Ashley let go of Josh. "Dude, she'll… she will…"

"Stop, Chris. Just stop. Stop trying to give me hope."

"Wha…" Melinda backed up a step, confusion on her face. "What're you talking about?"

Ashley moved over to Melinda and started talking in hushed tones to her, and by the way her eyes widened, Josh could tell she was telling her about Sam. He looked back to his best friend. "I messed it all up. I'm gonna have to live with it. She's right to not trust me." His voice wavered, showing that he didn't like or trust his own words. "I ruined it…" he trailed off.

Chris approached his best friend just in time to catch him from falling. Without warning, their arms found themselves around each other as Josh simply sobbed. "Dude, Josh…"

After a moment, Josh took a deep breath and let go of Chris. "Shit, sorry bro. Totally uncool to just break down like that." He wiped his face off with his sleeve, trying to calm down.

"Josh…" Chris stepped in and pulled his friend into another hug. "You don't have anything to apologize for. I'm here for you, bro."

The two simply held each other for a moment, Josh allowing himself to softly cry, knowing he was around people who weren't going to judge him. As they stood there, Bob approached from the side and placed his hand on Josh's shoulder. "We'll get through this, Josh. No matter what happens, we're here for you." Josh slowly let go of Chris, and looked to his father. "I lost Hannah and Beth, and I thought I'd lost you too." He stepped closer to his son. "But I got you back. I got you back, and I'm never gonna let you go again." Without further warning, he stepped in one last time and put his arms around his son. Josh was stunned, as his father had never been so emotional around him before. "I'm so, so sorry I haven't been around as much as you've needed me."

"Dad…" For the first time since he was a tiny child, Josh simply held his father and let himself cry.


	16. Welcome Home

Chapter 16: Welcome Home

Josh looked at his parents' living room, more full of people than it had been for a long time. Chris, Ashley, Jessica, Mike, Emily, and Matt were all there, talking, laughing, having a good time. His parents had suggested having a party while they were in California with the studio executives for two days. Josh figured it was so someone was around to keep an eye on him. He didn't mind so much, it was better than the soul-crushing isolation and boredom of the Smithson Institute. He would have preferred going back to Ocean View rather than the Smithson Institute. But, of course, they brought in only the worst part of Ocean View, Dr. Hill, since he was familiar with Josh's case. Josh shook his head. No need to dwell on that now, he was out, and surrounded by nearly all of his friends.

Music blared over the stereo, as Mike and Matt had decided that this was going to be a music party. Everyone was taking turns picking some new song to play and have everyone experience (or in some cases, be subjected to, Josh found that he really didn't care for the bubblegum pop music that Jessica listened to). He noticed Matt and Emily move off to the side. Not far enough away that they couldn't still be seen, but enough so they could have some kind of private conversation. He started over to them to ask if they were okay, since both of them had pretty intense looks on their faces, but Mike walked up in front of Josh. "Josh, buddy, How you doin?" He had clearly had a little bit to drink.

"Doin' good." He put his hand on Mike's shoulder. "I'm glad you're here, man. I'm glad you're all here."

"Of course, man." He got a little closer and slung him arm over Josh's shoulders. "Ya know, I kinda wish we had that video of that prank from last year…"

"Dude!" Josh physically recoiled when the video was mentioned. Mike had apparently had more than a little bit to drink.

"Not to post, or anything, but Chris told me about all the stuff that happened. That… that was some preparation, man. I just thought that…"

Josh simply cut him off. "Come on, Mike. I don't want to go down that road again." He shrugged Mike's arm off him.

Mike raised his hands in defense. "Sorry, Josh. I didn't mean…"

"I know." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter anyway, all the copies were destroyed. I don't want anyone to ever see any of that."

Mike slowly nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's for the best." He staggered back over to Jessica, who was standing next to Ashley, a bottle of beer in her hand. "Sorry for, ya know, bringing it up."

Josh simply nodded. Once Mike's attention was back on Jessica and Ashley, he started over toward Matt and Emily, who looked even more serious than they had before. As he approached, he started to overhear their conversation.

"… guess you were right." Once Josh was closer, he could see that Emily looked forlorn. Sheepish, even.

Matt cocked his head to the side, mild surprise etched on his features. "Really? I mean, yeah, I was, but…"

"Don't ruin the moment, muscle head." She brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. "But, yeah. I guess… I'm sorry. For, you know, screaming at you."

Matt placed a hand on her shoulder. "I only said it because I care about you. I didn't want you going back up there. I agreed to go back up with you to make sure you were okay."

"Even after the way I treated you, after I broke up with you." She moved in closer and placed her head on his shoulder. "God, I was such a bitch, wasn't I?"

"Em…"

Emily looked back up into Matt's eyes. "I know I don't really deserve it, but, maybe, give me another chance?"

Josh could only smile, standing there as Matt cupped Emily's cheek in his palm and brought her face up for a kiss. The kiss was short, chaste even, but it spoke volumes about where their relationship had been.

"So, you guys wanna use one of the guest rooms?" Josh felt the time was right to chime in, a wry smile playing on his lips.

Emily immediately backed up, her nose wrinkling up. "God, Josh, way to ruin the mood."

"Yo, Matt, it's your turn!" Chris yelled from across the room as the music started fading out.

"Be right there!" He bounded over to the coffee table and got onto the laptop that was connected to the television. "Hey, Chris, you're gonna love this one…"

Chris listened intently for a second before his mouth formed into a huge smile. "Wait, what is this?" As the question left his lips, his shoulders started moving as he started dancing in place.

"Dude, this is GDFR by Flo Rida." Matt started to dance in the middle of the living room as well. Josh could only giggle to himself as he saw two grown men, Chris and Matt, dancing by themselves in the middle of his living room. They had both clearly had a little bit to drink.

It wasn't long until Chris looked over in Ashley's direction. "Come on, Ash, get up here!"

That was when Josh noticed the embarrassed blush on her cheeks. She shook her head. "Oh, oh no. No way."

"Come on, Ash, no one's gonna judge you." Matt moved over to the two and beckoned her up.

Emily called out from the wall she was standing next to. "Uh, I'll judge you…"

"Oh, shut up, Em." Chris replied, his smile still on his face. "Your head is bobbing. You're totally getting down on this too."

Ash rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine." She relented as she stood up. "This isn't really my kind of music, though."

"You're just paying too much attention. Here." Chris moved behind Ashley and put his arms over her shoulders, tracing her arms with his. The blush on her cheeks darkened. "Just let your body move." His arms moved hers from side to side, and his shoulders started her swaying. "Just let the music move you."

Ashley giggled as she did as Chris told, the blush getting even darker on her face. As the song ended, Ashely hadn't even noticed that Chris had let her go, and that she was moving all on her own, swaying and moving to the music. With the absence of sound, though, she caught herself and stopped. She smiled and shook her head. "Okay, that song was… fun, but now it's my turn. I got a song that I think you're gonna love, Chris."

"One you haven't had me listen to before?"

"Not yet. John just got me interested in this band." She walked over to the laptop and started typing.

"John? Ash, your brother's got the weirdest taste in music."

"Oh, shut up. You loved Ween." Ashley hit the play button, and the speakers came alive.

Chris listened for a moment before doing a double take. The song started soft, but the melody instantly caught him. "Wait, what is THIS?!"

"You like?"

"Hell yeah I like!"

"Actually, I gotta admit, this song is pretty dope." Matt chimed in himself. "Who is this?"

Ashley smiled at the two as their heads bobbed up and down with the music. "This is Better Living Through Chemistry, by Queens of the Stone Age."

"Wait, you like Queens?" Josh approached the group. "You ever listen to Eagles of Death Metal?"

Ashley rolled her eyes. "No, I couldn't get into them. It's John's favorite band, though. Well, one of his favorite bands, anyway."

A knock sounded from the door. Josh shook his head as he headed for the door. "Well, give 'Cherry Cola' another listen. That's gotta be the pizza, I'll be right back."

He kept shaking his head as he headed to the front door of his parents' house, pulling out his wallet. As he opened the door, he froze. "Sam?"

Sam stood on the other side of the door, a sheepish look on her face. "Hi Josh."

"What… what're you doing here?"

She hesitated for a second. "I… I'm sorry. You're busy, I shouldn't have…" she turned to leave.

"No!" Josh rushed beside her. "Sam, I just, I'm just surprised you're here."

"Yeah." She stalled for a moment, looking down to the ground. "Can I… I mean… can we talk?"

Josh hesitated for a second before nodding, moving back over to the door, and shutting it. He turned around on his porch and looked at the girl in front of him. "So, what are you…"

"I'm sorry." Sam simply blurted it out. That caught Josh off guard even more than seeing her did.

"You're… sorry?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I just… I didn't even think about how you were…" She shook her head in frustration. "I don't even know how to say it." She took a deep breath. "When I saw you, everything that happened, everything I'd been trying to put behind me for the past year and a half, it all came back. All of it. And it hurt. I thought… I thought getting distance would help, but it didn't, it made it worse. Then I thought just making a clean break with you would help, and it didn't. It made it worse."

Josh struggled to find the words. "So, uh, what made you want to come back?"

Sam shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "I had some help. Talking about it helped me to see things from your perspective."

Instantly, Josh knew who had gone to see her. "Sam, I swear, I didn't ask Chris or Ash to go see you…"

"It was Emily."

That took him by surprise. "Emily? What did she say to you?"

"Well…"


	17. The Talk

Chapter 17: The Talk

\- Two weeks ago -

Sam sat in her living room, alone in her house, her eyes red and puffy. She had been alternating between being so angry she couldn't do anything but sob, and so tired she couldn't even be angry anymore. Her meeting with Josh had left her even more confused than she had started. She had been getting more and more angry the more she avoided seeing the man she used to love. Did she still have feelings for him? They say that you can't hate someone unless you truly love them. Sam wasn't sure anymore. She was angry at Josh for pulling that prank, for planning it, for betraying her. She was angry at herself for not seeing it, for not confronting Josh about his behavior and his distance the month leading up to their fateful stay at Blackwood Pines. She was angry at the world for letting those monsters exist in the first place, for taking her best friends away from her.

A knock sounded from her door. She made no move to get up. Whoever it was would go away on their own. Another knock came, louder than the first. "Sam! I know you're in there! Answer the damn door!" Sam looked up to the door in surprise. She was sure it was going to be Ashley, she had called several times already, but instead, Emily's voice came from outside. It had been Ashley and Chris that kept encouraging her to go up to see him in the first place. She still made no moves to get up. She felt her energy returning, which meant she was starting to feel angry again. She felt the tears start to well up in her eyes again. "Sam! Your car's still in the driveway! Open up!"

"Go away, Em!" The anger was coming back much faster now, the tears starting to stream down her face.

"Open the fucking door before I break through a window!"

Sam only waited a moment, knowing that out of all her friends, Emily probably actually would break through a window. She shot up and stomped over to the door, flinging it open. She looked at one of her oldest friends, not caring about the way she looked, not caring that her clothes were disheveled, or that her face was red and tear-stained. "What?!" The question came out much louder than she intended, but she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry about it.

"Jesus, Sam. Ash said she's been trying to call you. She said you went to see Josh today."

Sam rolled her eyes and tried to shut the door, only to have it stopped by Emily's foot. She looked down at the foot, then back up to Emily. "Go away." Her voice was low, almost growling. Emily simply rolled her eyes and pushed past Sam, walking intently into her house. "Hey! What're you doing? Get out!"

"Seriously? You need to talk about it."

"I don't WANT to talk about it!" The tears were coming out of Sam's eyes in full force, now, and she found herself nearly screaming at one of her oldest friends.

Emily merely shook her head and walked into the living room. "Stop bullshitting me, Sam. If you didn't want to talk about it, you wouldn't be crying."

Sam stomped after her friend, intent on throwing her out. "I'm not joking, Em! Get out!"

"Are you upset about what Josh said to you, or what you said to Josh?"

Sam stopped two inches from Emily's face and stared daggers into her. Emily simply stared back, daring Sam to do something with the look of incredulity on her face. After a moment, Sam simply let out an exasperated sigh and moved over to the couch, plopping unceremoniously onto it, burying her face in her hands.

"So, what you said to Josh, then." Emily spoke matter-of-factly as she moved over to the couch and sat next to Sam.

"Oh, like you're so smart."

"I know you, Sam. If it was something Josh said to you, you would've started talking about what he said. You're angry with yourself."

"Fuck off."

"Okay, now I know it's something you said." Emily smirked, being completely unfazed by Sam's outbursts. "So, are you gonna tell me what happened, or are we gonna play the guessing game for a few hours? 'Cause I'm not letting this go."

"Why do you care so much?" Sam looked up to Emily, her face redder than before from the tears and her hands.

"Really?" Emily scooted over to Sam and put a hand on her shoulder. "Sam, you were there for me a year ago when I was a wreck. Even though you had lost Hannah, you were there for me when I lost Beth." A small, comforting smile formed on her lips. "You've always been there for the people who needed you."

With that, Sam's face contorted in pain, and she started to sob again. "No, no I'm not. I'm… I'm not…"

"What happened?"

"I…" Sam purposefully sniffed as she looked into her friend's eyes. "I told Josh I never wanted to see him again."

"What? But, Sam, I know how you felt about him…"

"After what he did, how could I possibly trust him again?"

"After what you did, how could he possibly trust you?" Emily almost laughed at the surprised look on Sam's face. "Oh, don't give me that look. I know you. You've felt guilty about stopping us from going out after Hannah and Beth since that night. You spent all that time with Josh even though it killed you to watch him broken like that because you felt guilty."

Sam was stunned into silence. She had never told anyone about her own guilt. She always felt like she needed to be everyone else's rock, as everyone else blamed themselves for what happened. "What… no… I cared for…"

"Yeah, yeah, you care about him. But you felt guilty too."

Sam shook her head. "But he spent all those months, planning, and he never told me…"

"You know how Josh loved his surprises."

"No, but, he should have…"

Emily interrupted again. "Yeah, he SHOULD have told you, or Chris, or his parents, or somebody. But he didn't. We SHOULDN'T have pulled that stupid-ass prank. You SHOULDN'T have stopped us from going out to find them. Chris SHOULDN'T have let Josh get blackout drunk. There's enough 'should've' going around for everyone." Emily shook her head. "But Josh took responsibility for what happened, didn't he? He's not making excuses, even though out of all of us, he's the only one that's actually sick, that actually has an excuse. And he's still taking the steps to make sure he doesn't do it again."

"But he still planned it for months, Em!" Sam's voice was soft, pleading. "Months… the rest of us, those were in the heat of the moment, he planned it out…"

"So? I planned Jessica's murder for a month and a half." Sam instantly looked up at her friend in surprise. Emily scoffed. "I didn't actually do it, obviously, but planning out revenge can give you a sense of peace, sometimes. It may not be healthy, but when you're in pain…"

Sam shot up off the couch and paced quickly back and forth. "Damnit, Em! Stop… stop making sense!"

"He probably set it up all at once, after planning it without actually intending to go through with it."

"SHUT UP!" The scream came out quickly, the look of surprise on both of their faces showing Emily that Sam hadn't really meant to scream it. She collapsed back onto the couch. "Damnit, Em, why can't I just be angry? Why are you trying to get me to trust him again?"

"I'm not." Sam looked up at Emily, noting the compassionate smile on her face. "I'm not trying to get you to trust him again. I don't." Emily let out a quiet laugh. "What I'm suggesting is that maybe, just maybe, you give him a chance to earn your trust again."

"Earn my trust?"

"And as he earns your trust again, I think you'll feel like you're earning his again too." Emily's smile turned from compassionate to knowing, and slightly mocking. "And, plus side, you'll get to see Josh again."

"How do I look at him without seeing everything that happened up there?"

"It'll take time. You think I could look at Jess or Mike without seeing everything they did to me?"

"Well, in fairness, you broke up with him…"

"Not what we're talking about."

"No no no, you don't get to break into my house and confront me about my problems and not have any of yours brought up." Sam looked intently at Emily, the anger in her being replaced by incredulity. "You blamed Mike and Jess for what you did for a long time."

"Oh, shut up. I'm over it."

"Bullshit."

"No, seriously. I don't trust Jess anymore, but, well, I've gotten to the point where I can talk to her without wanting to rip her head off. We can at least be in the same room together again."

"And Mike?"

"That asshole pointed a gun right in my face. The bitch can have him for all I care."

"That being said, what about Ashley?" Sam scooted a little bit closer.

Emily shook her head. "At least she apologized to me."

"You slapped her pretty hard."

"Yeah, yeah. Alright, maybe I owe her an apology too. Maybe." She shrugged. "I'll say something to her after I talk to Matt." She noticed the way Sam was smiling at her, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "So, does that mean you're gonna talk to Josh again?"

"Maybe."

"Well, take your time, but I hear that Chris and Ash are planning a party for when he gets out. I'll let you know when it'll be."

Sam simply nodded, energy leaving her body again.

Emily put her hand on Sam's. "So, are you okay?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I will be."

"Okay." She stood up. "Well, if you need anything, you have my number." She smiled. "Sometimes you need a rock too, ya know."

Sam looked up into Emily's eyes. "Thanks."


	18. Party

Chapter 18: Party

\- Present day -

"Let's just say she reminded me of a few things." Sam looked up at Josh, their eyes meeting.

Josh nodded apprehensively. "So, does this mean…"

"Josh, I can't just forget what you did." Her eyes drifted downward. "But I don't really feel like I deserve your trust either."

"What? Sam, you were always there for me. Throughout all that crap I was going through, you were always there. You were the best of all of us, you tried to stop the prank, you…"

"I stopped everyone from going out and looking for your sisters, Josh." She noticed the look of surprise on Josh's face. "No one told you. I didn't even tell you. They're dead because of me."

"They aren't dead because of you."

"I stopped everyone from going out there, Josh. I could have…"

"We don't know what would have happened if everyone had gone out there. Maybe Hannah and Beth would still be alive, or maybe all of you would have died too, and it would've been just me and Chris, waking up after a drunken stupor in an empty lodge. No one can know what would've happened. It's not your fault."

Sam simply drank in everything he said. He didn't blame her. He wasn't angry. "Josh…" Sam knew there was one more thing she needed to know. "The prank. The one you planned. Why did you plan it?"

"What?"

"What made you start planning that prank?" She looked back into his eyes. "The Josh I knew wouldn't ever do something so cruel. So why did you even start planning it out?"

Josh hung his head. "I never told anyone this, but…" He took a deep breath, letting it out almost as a sigh. "Dr. Hill. He had me start planning it out, so that we could go over every aspect and figure out what it was about each part, each prank, that I found so scary, and why my friends didn't deserve it. But then… then Hannah said that you guys, and you especially, Sam, would love it, that you guys would finally understand." He slowly locked eyes with Sam again, and saw how taken aback she was. "I know that the 'Hannah' I saw wasn't real. But at the time, it just felt so real, so reasonable. And you will never know how sorry I am about that."

Sam slowly regained her composure. Suddenly, it all made sense. The pranks, the planning, everything. Her anger evaporated. She simply felt compassion and love for the man in front of her, knowing she would never truly understand everything he went thorough. But now, the way he talked to her, the way he carried himself, he was the man she knew again. "Josh. I still don't trust you." Her voice was soft. "But, I think I'm willing to let you earn my trust again. You're so much like yourself, and with everything that happened…" Tears started to fall from her eyes.

"It looks like we all have issues to work through from that night." Josh finally allowed himself to smile at Sam as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Sam smiled and shook her head. "How do you do it? How do you just forgive people so easily? I dropped a bombshell on you, and you just let it roll off you."

"Because it wasn't your fault, no matter how much you blame yourself." He placed his other hand on her other shoulder, facing her to him squarely. "You were doing what you thought was best."

Sam's head dropped as she smiled, the smile finally reaching her eyes. Her tears stopped, and she looked back up to Josh. "So, friends?"

Josh smiled back at her warmly. "Yeah. That sounds good."

"So, where do we go from here?"

"Well, there's a party going on, you wanna come in?"

"No, I mean where do we go from here? Just act like nothing happened?"

Josh cocked his head to the side. "How about we support each other, and be there for each other when we need it, and be friends and hang out when we don't."

Sam nodded. "Yeah. That sounds good."

Josh's smile grew. "I'm really glad you're back, Sam."

"I'm glad I am too." She leaned in and wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her head against his chest. She felt Josh chuckle a little bit.

"So, Sam, we're friends again, right?"

"Of course. Forever."

"Friends, they do things with each other, right?"

Sam leaned back and looked up at Josh, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Yeah?"

"Sex is a 'thing'…"

Sam barely stifled a laugh as she shoved Josh away. "Yeah, you're DEFINITELY back to your old self." She giggled as she shook her head. "Let's just get back to the party."

Josh continued chuckling as he opened the door. "Sounds good."

The two walked in through the foyer and into the living room. Emily's voice sounded from the other side of the large room. "You're late, Sam!"

Sam simply smiled sarcastically at her friend. Mike, on the other hand, shot up and bounded over to her, tripping on the side of the couch on his way, spilling a little beer on the floor. "Sammay!" He was clearly drunk. "Glad you could make it!" He turned around. "Chris! Sam's here!"

"God, Mike, how drunk are you?" Sam wrinkled her nose in disgust, but still couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Where is Chris, though?" Josh asked, looking around the room. "And… where's Ashley?"

Everyone looked around the room for a second. "They were here just a few minutes ago…" Jess chimed in.

Matt's eyes widened. "Hold on, what is that? Hey! Turn down the music!"

Josh made his way over to the laptop and turned the volume down. "What?"

Matt hesitated for a second, a huge grin appearing on his face. He said nothing, simply waving everyone over to where he was.

As everyone started over to Matt's position right by the staircase, they all heard a tiny commotion from upstairs. Sam leaned in to hear better. "What is…"

Softly, from far away, Ashley's voice could just be made out. "Ooohhh, God, Chriiiiiiiis…"

Mike couldn't contain the laughter, though he did his best to stifle it, as a blush appeared on Sam's cheeks. Jess, on the other hand, made no motion to contain the giggles that erupted from her. Josh also chucked to himself. "Oh, man, I gotta get up there…"

Mike grabbed a hold of his shoulder. "Whoa, no. Hold on. I have an idea." He ushered everyone back into the living room. "Turn the music back up, and follow my lead."

The group did as they were told, even Emily, a knowing look on her face. She walked over to Sam. "I'm glad you're here."

"I wouldn't be without you. Thanks. For everything."

Emily simply shrugged. "Someone's gotta tell it like it is."

The group of friends continued to talk, everyone in hushed tones, while keeping a subtle eye on Mike and on the staircase. After a few minutes, Chris and Ash appeared at the top of the staircase, trying to sneak down without being noticed. Mike noticed. He shot up like a bullet and started to clap his hands together vigorously. "Woo! Yeah! Alright!" Within just a couple of seconds, everyone was on their feet, giving Chris and Ashley a standing ovation.

Chris looked stunned, while Ashely turned dark cherry red and hid her face behind her hands, trying to make herself as small as possible. Chris rolled his eyes, smiled, and took a large, over-exaggerated bow. He looked back to Ashley, who still looked mortified, and shrugged. "We got caught. May as well own it." He looked back to the crowd. His eyes went wide. "Sam?"

"Hey, Chris." She waved from the other side of the room, also poorly attempting to contain her laughter.

"Sam! You're here!" Ashely stopped hiding the moment she saw her. "You came!"

Sam's eyebrows raised, her smile getting even bigger. "Yeah, and from the sound of it, so did you."

Josh erupted into laughter as Ashley's blush spread all the way to her ears. He looked to the girl next to him and smiled. Everything seemed like it would finally be all right.


	19. Epilogue

Epilogue

\- Two years later -

Josh laughed out loud. He never thought he would see the day that his best friends would have put their entire wedding reception on hold because of a game on a cell phone. Ashley panicked as she ruffled through her purse, the trail of her wedding dress tangled around her legs. "Don't catch it don't catch it don't catch it!"

"Hurry up! This is the first Snorlax I've seen in four months!" Chris held his phone in front of his face, his finger hovering just above the screen.

Josh took in the scene around him. Chris and Ashley had decided to have a late summer wedding, and they had it in an outdoor venue. The area was on a grassy field, complete with a terrific view of Pigeon Lake. It was early Tuesday afternoon, so there was virtually no one in the park. The large gazebo on the property had been fully decorated and set up for the reception, of which the small gathering of people easily fit. Neither Chris nor Ashley had wanted a particularly large wedding, so it was just Emily, Matt, Sam, Josh, Bob and Melinda Washington, and a few members of each of their families. Josh recognized Chris's and Ashley's parents, and had met one of Chris's cousins one time, but the rest of the extended families were unknown to him. Still, all in all, there were no more than twenty people in attendance.

He felt a little bad that Mike and Jessica couldn't make it, and they had sent their regrets, but they were already in America getting set up for their junior year at Yale. Matt and Emily had split up again, but this time, it had been much more amicable. Now they were actual friends, though he suspected there were some benefits to that friendship, as both of them had been single for a while. He and Sam, on the other hand, had been slowly rebuilding their friendship. Most of the time they spent together was in group outings, but there had been a few times it was just the two of them, and Sam seemed to be comfortable around him again. It had only taken a year and a half.

Ashley stood up, her phone in her hands, as she furiously pressed on the phone and swiped. "Okay, now!" Both she and Chris pressed on their phones simultaneously.

"You two really deserve each other!" Sam laughed out, shaking her head. She turned to Josh. "Do you see the appeal of that game?"

"No. But hey, whatever makes 'em happy. The family that plays together, stays together, right?"

Sam balked. "Ugh, you 'do' know what that actually means, right?" Josh looked down to her, a smirk on his features. She rolled her eyes, smiling at her friend's sick sense of humor. She looked back to the scene before them. "Still, it's nice to see them finally happy together."

"Yeah. I'm really happy for them." Josh looked back at his friends.

Sam nudged Josh with her elbow. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, what's going on?"

"No, not here. In private."

Josh nodded, concern on his face. "Sure. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just… well, come on." She walked to a copse of trees off to the side of the clearing, walking just inside the shadows of the trees. Josh followed right behind her. As soon as they were out of view, she turned around. "Hey." Now that they were out of view, Sam nervously chewed her bottom lip.

"Hey. So, what did you want to talk about?" Josh started to feel apprehensive as well. He couldn't think of anything Sam would have to be nervous about, unless she started to not trust him again. He started to go over all his behavior over the past year, trying to think of anything he did that might have been weird.

"Can you do me a favor?"

That stopped Josh in his tracks. "Uh, yeah. Sure. What do you need?"

"Close your eyes." Sam looked even more nervous than before.

"Okay… why?"

"Please, just, do it, okay?"

"Alright." He did as he told. With his eyes closed, he felt the soft breeze coming off the water, pleasantly cooling the unusually warm September weather. "Like this?"

"Yeah." It may have been his imagination, but Sam sounded closer to him. "Now, this may not mean anything. I'm just… I'm just trying it on, okay?"

"Oookay…" Josh had no idea what to expect, until he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders pulling him down gently and a wet warmth press against his lips. His eyes shot open to see the side of Sam's head. She was kissing him. Sam was kissing him. As suddenly as it had started, she pulled away, a blush painting her cheeks red. The two simply looked into each other's eyes for a moment, panting softly in the wake of the kiss. Josh got his wits together and broke the silence. "Wow."

"Yeah." The shock faded off Sam's face, and was replaced with a smile.

"So, uh, how'd it fit?" Josh couldn't keep the hope out of his voice.

Sam shrugged, the smile still playing on her lips, the blush still on her cheeks. "I don't know." She stood on her toes and pushed her lips closer to his again. "I think I need to try it on again." With that, she pressed her lips against his again. He could feel her smile, and he found it spreading to him. She opened her mouth slightly. It was all the invitation Josh needed. He lightly pushed against her, wrapping his arms around her small frame, and reciprocated her kiss, letting their lips dance with each other.

Their dance lasted only a moment, but when they parted, their breath was heavy and labored. They looked into each other's eyes, and the friendship was still there, but now, there was passion behind it. Josh simply stared at the sight before him. He had never seen anything more beautiful. "So, uh, you know how it fits now?"

"Nope. We're gonna have to try a whole lot more."

He couldn't contain the laugh that jumped out of him. "I love you Sam.

"I know." She leaned back in, and placed her lips right next to his. "I love you too."

The End


End file.
